Oct. 8, 2004

In its first competition in two weeks, the Villanova golf team returns to action this weekend at the James Madison Invitational. The Wildcats will play the first round of the tournament on Saturday and then conclude with the final round on Sunday.

All participating teams will get underway with a shotgun start at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Following the round, the teams will be grouped according to team score and tee times will be assigned for Sunday. The tournament is being held at the Lakeview Golf Course in Harrisonburg, Va. The par-71 course measures 6,496 yards.

Villanova makes its annual trip to the James Madison Invitational, where it finished 17th last season with scores of 298-305-307=910. Senior captain Charlie Nettleton was the top Wildcat scorer at least year's tournament, placing 70th after carding rounds of 74-78-75=227.

This year's field includes 14 teams from around the region. In addition to Villanova and the host Dukes, the following schools will play in the tournament: Longwood, Liberty, Towson, Rutgers, St. John's, Temple, Drexel, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Princeton, St. Joseph's and George Washington.

The Wildcats have played two tournaments so far this season, finishing eighth at the Rutgers Men's Golf Invitational and sixth at the St. John's/McLaughlin. Freshman Patrick Murphy saw his first collegiate action at the McLaughlin, and produced a 73.00 stroke average over three rounds to tie for ninth place in the field. Junior Jonathan Hewett has played in all five of the team's rounds and has a 73.20 stroke average.

As a team, the Wildcats have maintained a 298.20 stroke average through the first five team rounds. That mark is nearly 13 strokes better than last season's team average round. Villanova's final round 286 at the McLaughlin was the second-lowest team round in school history, and the six-over-par score was the best since a one-over-par 289 on October 21, 1999 in the Lehigh Invitational.

Results from this weekend's tournament will be available on the Villanova website at http://www.villanova.com on Saturday and Sunday evening following the conclusion of play each day.