Blue Raiders finish 7th at SBC golf championships

NICEVILLE, Fla. - Middle Tennessee dropped to a seventh place finish at the 2004 Sun Belt Conference golf championships following a 303 in the final round Wednesday. The Blue Raiders ended the tournament with a 905 in the 54-hole event at the Bluewater Bay Resort.

"We had 21 balls go out of bounds during this tournament and you simply can not win when you put yourself in that kind of a hole," head coach Johnny Moore said. "This is not a golf course that suits us because it is very tight and short and we have a lot of big hitters. Overall, it has been a solid season. We will learn from this and get ready for improving next year."

Senior Charlie Gibson (Brentwood, Tenn.) tied for 18th overall with a 224 and finished with a 75 in the final round, while junior Chris Webb (Jackson, Tenn.) had a 227 to tie for 22nd.

Blake Bivens (Etowah, Tenn.) carded the Blue Raiders' best round of the day with a 74 to tie for 28th. Bivens had a 54-hole score of 229.

Josh Nelms (Chattanooga, Tenn.), who earned all-conference honors, tied for 30th with a 230, while Kenny Green completed the scoring with a 236 to tie for 40th. Green registered an 81 on Wednesday.

TEAM SCORES
1 New Mexico State U. 292 286 286 864
2 North Texas, U. of 290 297 295 882
3 South Alabama, U. of 292 293 302 887
4 Louisiana-Lafayette 297 297 306 900
5 Western Kentucky U. 306 296 299 901
6 Arkansas-Little Rock 302 306 294 902
7 Middle Tennessee 301 301 303 905
8 Denver, U. of 308 298 300 906
9 Arkansas State U. 312 295 304 911
10 New Orleans, U. of 312 315 313 940

MT SCORES
T 18 Charlie Gibson 76 73 75 224
T 22 Chris Webb 75 76 76 227
T 28 Blake Bivens 75 80 74 229
T 30 Josh Nelms 80 72 78 230
T 40 Kenny Green 75 80 81 236

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