When senior Brian Nay transferred to George Mason from Florida State University in the fall of 1994, he was expected to make an immediate impact on the Patriot golf fortunes.

After his first spring tournament at the William & Mary Kingsmill Invitational, it appeared he was on his way to definite stardom. Firing rounds of 77-73 for a two-day total of 150, Nay finished fourth overall in the tournament and was the No. 1 player for George Mason. But as quickly as that success came to Nay, a lower back injury took it all away shortly thereafter. Suddenly he could no longer break 80 on any golf course, and by the end of that season he was no longer in the Patriot lineup.

Eventually, he worked his way back onto the travel team, and was a consistent fifth man on last year's NCAA Regional qualifying team. Still, he never could get things going like he had when he first arrived in Fairfax.

That was until this past weekend.

Firing rounds of 70-74, Nay led George Mason to its lowest tournament score in history (587), and to its lowest single-round total ever (290 on Saturday). The Patriots finished sixth at the James Madison University Men's Golf Fall Invitational at Bryce Resort, and put themselves back into the NCAA qualifying picture at the close of the fall campaign.

His opening-day 70 is the fifth-lowest 18-hole round in school history, and he finished in a tie for 11th place overall in the tournament.

Patriot coach Steve Loesher credits Nay's return to his recent rededication to the intricate game of golf.

"Brian's been working at his game very hard lately," said Loesher. "When he came into this season, he really didn't know what kind of team (three players graduated from last year's NCAA Regional squad) we were going to have. After a few tournaments, he began to realize 'hey, maybe we've still got a shot at this.' That gave him the incentive to step things up. He saw he had a chance--an outside one--but at least one he could see."

Steady and consistent work has brought the gift of golf back to the Jacksonville, FL native and now he leads a team of two freshmen, a sophomore and a junior as they head into the winter months. The Patriots return to action in early March at the site of Nay's previous collegiate high-water mark, the William & Mary Kingsmill Invitational in Williamsburg, VA.

Contact: Bill Kamenjar (993-3264)