RICHMOND, Ky. - Coach Pat Stephens' Eastern Kentucky University men's golf team closed its 1999 fall season earlier this week with a ninth-place finish in the 14-team field of the Anchor Bank Intercollegiate hosted by Francis Marion University in Florence, SC.

EKU began this tourney in grand style, holding on to fourth place after the first round with a team score of 300. However, back-to-back rounds of 316 dropped the Colonels into ninth place, some 68 strokes off the pace set by the winning Jacksonville State University team.

"This was a very challenging golf course and we had to be on our game on every hole," said Stephens. "We had a couple of bad holes and it just seemed to snowball after that. We began losing confidence out there and could never recover."

Senior Brandon Tucker led the Colonels with his 229 which tied him for 21^st place. Eric Willenbrink shot a 231, Brad Morris turned in a 233, Jim Milam shot 242 and Sam Covitz finished with a 244.

Stephens said he is looking forward to the spring season when he expects a major turnaround with "a team with a lot of ability."

"We need to forget these things that have happened in these last two tournaments and have a fresh start next spring," he added. "I want us to come into the spring in better shape and in a better frame of mind. I'm going to be looking for some leadership out there on the golf course and I believe we have the players on this team to respond, step up and produce."