Oct. 9, 2001

GENOA, Nev. - University of Denver men's golfer Erik Billinger (Westminster, Colo.) captured his second career individual medallist honors today, winning the Wolf Pack Classic at Genoa Lakes Golf Course on the first hole of a sudden death playoff. Billinger defeated Nevada's Sprague Kolp, who was defending his title, with a birdie on the first playoff hole. The Pioneers as a team just missed out on back-to-back team titles, as they shot a 21-under par 843 and lost to host Nevada by one stroke.

But the story was Billinger, who opened play Monday with a tournament-best 65 (7-under) in the morning round and followed with 3-under par 69 to lead following the first 36 holes. His 4-under par 68 today was bested by just three golfers in the entire field, one of whom was Kolp, who managed to tie Billinger's 14-under par total of 202 with a closing round of 67 today. Billinger made sure the sudden death playoff would not last long, as the two played the course's first hole and Billinger made a birdie three with a driver-wedge to 10 feet and made the putt on the 420-yard par-4.

"Erik just played fantastic the last two days," head coach Eric Hoos said. "To hold off a guy defending his title on his home course is really something special."

Junior Tommy Hart (Englewood, Colo.) also played three solid rounds for Denver as he fired three consecutive rounds under par by shooting 69-71-70-210 (6-under) and finishing alone in sixth place, his highest finish of the season. Junior Tony Giarratano (Castle Rock, Colo.) also had his highest finish with a 2-under par 214 and in a tie for 10th.

Senior John Hulwick (Littleton, Colo.) was next for Denver as he finished tied for 18th by shooting 73-73-71-217 (1-over par) and junior Shawn Wills (Broomfield, Colo.), whose golf clubs were heavily damaged on the flight from Denver, shot 75-74-73-222 (6-over) and finished tied for 42nd.

The Pioneers are next in action beginning Monday, Nov. 5 when they play in the Aztec Invitational hosted by San Diego State.

Wolf Pack Classic
Genoa Lakes Golf Club, Genoa, Nev.
Par: 72  Yardage: 7263


Fin.	Team		Scores
1	Nevada		280-287-275-842
2	DENVER		280-283-280-843 
3	Washington St.	270-290-284-844
4	UTEP		292-281-282-855
5	Rhode Island	282-294-286-862
T6	Wyoming		295-290-289-874
T6	New Mexico St.	287-302-285-874
8	San Francisco	295-298-289-882
T9	Hawaii		292-297-294-883
T9	Boise State	287-298-298-883
11	Hawaii-Hilo	290-297-297-884
12	UNC-Greensboro	292-294-301-887
13	Portland	297-297-294-888
14	Loyola Marymnt.	295-298-309-902
15	La.-Monroe	305-300-298-903
16	Nevada 'B'	293-313-299-905

DENVER SCORES

**1	Erik Billinger	65-69-68-202 (14-under)

5	Tommy Hart	69-71-70-210 (6-under)

T-10	Tony Giarratano	73-70-71-214 (2-under)

T-18	John Hulwick	73-73-71-217 (1-over)

T-42	Shawn Wills	75-74-73-222 (6-over)

**--Won on first hole of sudden death playoff