ECU Readies For The American Men's Golf Championship

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GREENVILLE, N.C. --- The ECU men's golf team will look to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Golf Championships at the 2018 American Athletic Conference Men's Golf Championship, presented by Visit St. Pete/Clearwater, beginning Sunday at the Copperhead Course at the Innisbrook Resort & Golf Club in Palm Harbor, Fla.

All three days, April 22-24, of the championship can be followed via Golfstat, while the final round of the championship will also feature coverage on the American Digital Network beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET.

The Pirates will be led by their top three of sophomores Blake Taylor (2,180) and Patrick Stephenson (2,183) along with senior Tim Conover (2,186), ECU enters the championship as the fourth-rated team in The American. The trio are separated by six strokes for the season.

"I've never seen three players so close after 30 rounds of golf," ECU Head Coach Andrew Sapp said.

Stephenson is the only member of the team to record a first-place finish, tying for medalist honors at the ECU Intercollegiate, which the Pirates won by a stroke. Taylor and Conover each posted a pair of Top 10 finishes.

Joining the threesome are senior Jackson Spires and freshman Tim Bunten.

ECU finished in eighth-place at the 2017 conference championship with Conover finishing 23rd overall at 11-over-par. Stephenson tied for 30th at 13-over followed by Spires at 14-over and Taylor at 15-over.

USF, ranked No. 21 in the latest Golfstat/NCAA rankings, holds the top overall seed for the championship. The Bulls have captured the last three American Athletic Conference men's golf titles, including last years on the Copperhead Course when they won by 15 shots.

Houston is the second overall seed in the tournament followed by UCF as the No. 3 seed. SMU, Cincinnati, Memphis, UConn, Wichita State and Temple are seeded 5-10.

Teams seeded 1-6 will tee off from hole No. 1 beginning at 7:30 a.m. ET from the first tee. Teams seeded 7-10 will tee off from No. 10 beginning at 7:34 a.m. ET on Sunday. Tee times will be the same on Monday and Tuesday, with the teams to be determined based on scores.

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Players Mentioned

Tim Bunten

Tim Conover

Jackson Spires

Patrick Stephenson

Blake Taylor

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