George Washington University

July 27, 2005

BENTON HARBOR, MI -- George Washington's Brian Carroll (Crystal Lake, IL/Crystal Lake South) shot a five-under-par 65 to lead after the first day of the 2005 Western Amateur, presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf, July 25-31 at Point O'Woods Golf & Country Club in Benton Harbor, MI. The field features many of the world's greatest amateur golfers, including five members of the 2004 Western Amateur Sweet 16. Carroll birdied two holes on the front nine and four on the back with just one bogey to take the lead into the clubhouse at the par-70, 7,032-yard course.

Top collegiate players include 16 who received post-season NCAA All-American honors, including five who were named first-team or second-team All-Americans.

Past champions at the Point O'Woods include Ben Crenshaw, Curtis Strange, Hal Sutton, Phil Mickelson, Justin Leonard and Tiger Woods. Among recent competitors, Ben Curtis, the 2003 British Open champion, is representative of the high caliber of golf played in the Western Amateur at Point O'Woods. A Robert Trent Jones design, Point O'Woods consistently has ranked as one of the finest layouts in the world. The championship has been anchored at Point O'Woods since 1971.

Winning the tournament requires playing championship caliber golf for five straight days, and many players consider the format the most challenging in amateur golf. After 36 holes of stroke play over two days, the Western Amateur field is cut to the low 50 and ties. The field then plays 36 more holes of stroke play in one day, with the players recording the low 16 qualifying scores continuing on in match play. Two rounds of match play on each of the final two days determine the champion.

On June 30th, Carroll won the 2005 Chicago District Golf Association (CDGA) Amateur Championship at the LaGrange Country Club near Chicago. The CDGA Amateur is the second most prestigious amateur golf tournament in Illinois behind only the State Amateur (in which Carroll finished fifth last year).More than 260 of the top amateur golfers in Illinois attempted to qualify at four different sites. The 60 qualifiers then play 36 holes on Monday and the low 16 players then advance to Match Play.Carroll advanced with scores of 74-72 which placed him as the 14th seed of 16. He won his first match against the 3rd seed June 26 and then won two more matches on Wednesday against the 11th seed and the 2nd seed to advance to the finals. He then won the 36-hole final match, 3 and 2, against Rick LeHew of Peoria, IL.

Carroll qualified for the U.S. Amateur last summer and played in the U.S. Junior Amateur in 2000.

The Colonials' co-captain, Carroll was named the 2005 Atlantic 10 Conference Student-Athlete of the Year for men's golf. He competed in 14 tournaments during the 2004-05 season, placing among the top 10 seven times, including four second-place finishes. He also had three top-20 finishes. He led GW with a 74.59 stroke average over 30.5 rounds. He matched his season low round of 70 three times, including one at the Princeton Invitational to help George Washington to the team title.