Greensboro, NC -- Guilford College's men's golf team is ranked first in the country according to the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) Division III men's golf poll released Thursday.

GCAA members ranked teams from their respective divisions to establish the poll, which is the only one released during the fall season. The GCAA Coaches Poll will be released biweekly beginning January 24, 2002, through the NCAA Championships in May.

North Carolina schools occupy the poll's top three spots. Coach Jack Jensen's Quakers are ranked two points ahead of crosstown rival Greensboro, the 2000 Division III national champion, and 15 points in front of Methodist, the nation's third-place team in 2001 and a nine-time Division III champ. Defending national titlist Wisconsin Eau-Claire (4th) and Gustavus Adolphus (5th) round out the top five spots.

Guilford returns its top four players from last season's team that placed second in the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament by one stroke to Wisconsin-Eau Claire. The Quakers won their season-opening Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) event at Bridgewater this year and claimed third at the Johnny Palmer/Old North State Invitational, a 22-team tournament comprised of mostly Division II schools.

Senior Savio Nazareth (Orlando, FL/Phillips), one of the Quakers' three returning All-Americans, won his fourth career medalist title at the Johnny Palmer/Old North State Invitational with a five-under-par 139 over two rounds. Sophomore Dave Patterson (Fort Pierce, FL/Fort Pierce), a second-team All-American in 2001, captured his first college title by winning the ODAC/Bridgewater September 4. Senior Andrew Biggadike (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood), who finished third at last year's NCAA Tournament, is tied with Patterson for second place on Guilford's stroke average chart at 75.60 strokes per round.

Ten of the 25 top-ranked teams, including five top-10 squads, will be in Greensboro October 1-2 competing in Guilford's Tom O'Briant Memorial at the Cardinal Golf and Country Club. The ranked teams scheduled to compete include (ranking in parentheses): Guilford (1), Greensboro (2), Methodist (3), Averett (7), Oglethorpe (9), Ohio Wesleyan (13), Christopher Newport (14), Savannah A&D (17), Emory (19), and The College of New Jersey (25).