Sept. 13, 2004

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Cleveland State men's golf team stands in 12th place after the opening two rounds of the season-opening John Piper Intercollegiate, held on Monday at Stone Ridge Golf Club. The Vikings posted rounds of 298 and 300 for a total of 598. Marquette holds the team lead with a 569 (281-288) heading into Tuesday's final round.

CSU sophomore Mike Rutgers (Kingsville, Ontario/Cardinal Carter) stands tied for eighth at two under (four strokes behind the leader), after firing rounds of 69 and 73 (142). Notre Dame's Shane Sigsbee (70-68--138) is one shot clear of Ohio's Ryan Siekmann (70-69--139) and Longwood's Chris Shuford (67-72--139) in the race for the individual title. Viking sophomore Ben Grandy (Southgate, Mich./Gabriel Richard) is tied for 12th at 143 (71-72).

"Today was very much a Jekyll and Hyde situation," CSU head coach Tom Porten said. "I'm not happy with being in 12th and with the fact that there is a 13-shot gap in between our two and three players. I thought our top two played really well and I was pleased with our overall effort, but the execution was not there. I hope to pick it up tomorrow and move into the top half."

The tournament concludes on Tuesday morning with the final 18 holes.

Team Scores:
1. Marquette 281-288--569
2. Ohio 291-284--575
3. Detroit 293-287--580
12. Cleveland State 298-300--598

CSU Individual Scores:
T8. Mike Rutgers 69-73--142
T12. Ben Grandy 71-72--143
T63. Doug Barber 79-77--156
T66. Cody Harris 69-78--157
T75. Joe Ribelli 81-80--161