WEST MIDDLESEX, Pa. – Paced by a runner-up finish by Bryan Smith (Franklin, Pa./Franklin) and a second-round 75 by Matt Fiore (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford), the Thiel men's golf squad earned a third-place finish at the 2011 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Fall Invitational Tuesday at the Oak Tree Country Club.

Thiel's two-round score (299-319) of 618 trailed top finisher Washington & Jefferson College's 600 (295-305) and second-place Saint Vincent College (294-311-605) in the final team standings.
                                 
After Monday's opening-round 70, Smith's 77 on Tuesday and two-day total of 147 was good enough for the second-place finish, just two strokes behind the leader. Saint Vincent's Sam Cline claimed the medalist honors at the Fall Invitational after carding a 36-hole total of 145 (68-77). Grove City College's Seth Johnston finished in third place with a 148 (70-78).

Aaron Wakley (North East, Pa./North East) tied for 12th at the event after carding a two-day score of 154 (73-81) while Fiore was able to bounce back from Monday's 79 to shoot a 75 on Tuesday and post a score of 154, good enough for a tie for 12th place. Matt Eshelman (Butler, Pa./Knoch) finished 25th with a 36-hole score of 163 (77-86) and Matt Graham (Clymer, N.Y./Sherman Central) finished tied for 32nd with a 180 (87-93).

The 2011-12 PAC Men's Golf Championship is determined by a 72-hole total – 36 at the 2011 PAC Fall Invitational and 36 at the 2012 PAC Championship. The individual all-conference teams are determined exclusively by scores at the spring 36-hole PAC Championship.

The Tomcat men's and women's squads will host the first-ever Thiel Fall Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 1 at the Greens of Greenville. The event is scheduled to get underway at 10 a.m.