April 1, 2005
ORLANDO, Fla. - After nearly a three-week layoff, the UCF men's golf team will return to action this weekend in Augusta, Ga. for the Augusta State Invitational at Forest Hills Golf Club.
The 54-hole event will feature one of the strongest fields UCF will have faced this season with 10 of the 18 teams currently ranked in the top 26 in the country by Golfstat or Golfweek. The Golden Knights are currently ranked 40th and 42nd, in those polls, respectively.
Teams will play 36 holes Saturday and 18 holes Sunday over the 7,231-yard par 72 Forest Hills Layout that was originally designed by famed golf architect Donald Ross in 1926. Minnesota won the 2004 Augusta State Invitational and is back to defend its title, while UCF is playing in the event for the first time in several years. The Golden Knights won the event in 1990 and made it a clean sweep when Andrew Rice claimed medalist honors that year.
UCF coach Nick Clinard is hoping the time off benefits his team as it looks to rebound from a poor performance last time out when the Golden Knights finished 10th of 12 teams at the General Jim Hackler Invitational in Murrells Inlet, S.C., That event was the fifth event in a six-week span for UCF. Prior to that, UCF had registered top five finishes in three of the previous four events, including a win at the UCF/Rio Pinar Intercollegiate.
Clinard will be taking a lineup similar to what he played the previous four events with one change. Senior Andreas Hoegberg will be joined by freshmen Preston Brown, Giwon Suh and Ben Leong, while junior Sonny Nimkhum will replace freshman Chris Anderson. It will be Nimkhum's first event of the spring semester.
The Augusta State Invitational will be the final event prior to the Atlantic Sun Championships in Franklin, Tenn. April 18-20, where UCF will look to defend its title from a year ago. Live scoring will be available for the Augusta State Invitational at www.golfstat.com
2005 Augusta State Invitational Field
Alabama
Augusta State
Clemson
Duke
East Tennessee State
Georgia
Georgia Southern
Minnesota
North Carolina
North Carolina State
North Florida
Notre Dame
South Carolina
Southern California
Toledo
UCF
Virginia Tech
Wake Forest