April 25, 2004

South Bend, Ind. -- Virginia Tech shot a final round 302 on Sunday and finished second to Notre Dame in the final round of the 2004 BIG EAST Conference Men's Golf Championship at the 7,011 yard, par-70 Warren Golf Course in South Bend, Ind.

Senior Ryan Stinnett (Amherst, Va.) won medalist honors with a three-round total of two-under-par 208, nine strokes ahead of his teammate, redshirt senior Matt Hollerbach (Tulsa, Okla.), who finished in second place with a total of 217.

Stinnett's total of 208 sets a new BIG EAST Conference mark for low score in a 54-hole tournament, breaking the old record of 210 set last season by former Hokie Brendon de Jonge. Stinnett's two round total of 137 also set a new BIG EAST record for low 36 hole score, breaking de Jonge's mark of 141 from last season and his second round 67 on Saturday was the low round of the tournament and one of only two sub-par rounds in the event. The 67 was tied for the second-lowest round in BIG EAST tournament history and his final round 71 was tied for the best round of the day on Sunday. Hollerbach's total of 217 is the ninth-best 54-hole total in BIG EAST history.

Sophomore Joel Kraner (Dublin, Ohio) tied for 15^th place with a three-round total of 228 and freshman Ryan Sypniewski (Radford, Va.) was 23^rd at 232. Redshirt junior Scott Wise (Vinton, Va.) tied for 24^th place at 233.

Notre Dame won the title with a three-round total of 876, six strokes better than the Hokies. Georgetown was third at 896 and Boston College was fourth at 899. St. John's finished fifth at 915 and Rutgers was sixth at 919.

Tech entered the final round with a five stroke lead over the Irish. Notre Dame shot a final round 291 to win the tournament and the automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals. Tech finished with a three-round total of 882.

Sypniewski played the 36 holes on Saturday despite a trip to a South Bend area hospital on Friday night with severe abdominal pain. He was released at 2:00 a.m. on Saturday morning and was able to complete his three rounds in the tournament.

Tech had won the championship the three previous seasons. With Stinnett's victory, the Hokies become the first school to win four straight BIG EAST medalist titles with four different players and only the second team to win four straight individual titles.

RESULTS
1 	Notre Dame	 	+36 	290 	295 	291 	876 
2 	VIRGINIA TECH 	+42 	292 	288 	302 	882 
3 	Georgetown  	+56 	302 	297 	297 	896 
4 	Boston College 	+59 	295 	298 	306 	899 
5 	St. John's 	 	+75 	306 	301 	308 	915 
6 	Rutgers 		+79 	313 	305 	301 	919