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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Receive Votes In GolfWorld/Nike Preseason Poll
8/27/2008 | Men's Golf
OXFORD, Miss. -- Coming off a successful season in 2007-08 that saw the Rebels earn their second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and win four tournament titles, the Ole Miss men's golf team is receiving votes in the preseason GolfWorld/Nike Coaches Poll released Wednesday.
Last year, the Rebels captured the Squire Creek Invitational, the Memphis Intercollegiate and the Mason Rudolph Invitational in the fall and then won the Linger-Longer Invitational in the spring, holding off then No. 2 Georgia down the stretch. Ole Miss qualified for the NCAA East Regional for the second year in a row.
"It is nice to get mentioned as a team, getting votes for the Top 25 poll," head coach Ernest Ross said. "It means our program has been moving up and is getting respect. However, our team and I have higher goals, and thankfully tournaments aren't won in the polls. We will begin our season striving to be consistently good and let our results speak for themselves. Our players are really determined to keep getting better every day as individual players and as a team."
Ole Miss returns All-SEC second team honoree Jesse Speirs as well as Brandon native Jonathan Randolph, who had an outstanding freshman campaign, earning All-SEC Freshman honors. Junior Will Roebuck, a member of the 2007 NCAA team, returns after redshirting last year. He made it to the final stage of U.S. Open qualifying this summer and earned top-20 finishes at the Swiss and German Amateurs.
Redshirt freshman Billy Brozovich had a solid summer, finishing second at the Mississippi State Open and seventh at the State Amateur. Senior Stefan Strandlund looks to try and crack the lineup after a summer in which he placed eighth at the German International Amateur and seventh in the SPM Open (mini tour event).
One of the top recruiting classes in the history of the program features Jacksonville, Fla., native Sean Dale and Madison, Tenn., native Joe David. Dale has been ranked top five nationally and was an AJGA second team All-American. David, a recipient of the Jerry Cole Sportsmanship Award, was the 2006 and 2007 Tennessee Boys Junior Champion and this summer tied for first at the Tennessee State Amateur, before losing in a sudden death playoff.
The Rebels will open the fall campaign Sept.12-14 at the Carpet Capital Classic in Dalton, Ga.
