May 17, 2005
KINGSTON SPRINGS, Tenn. - The UCF men's golf team begins its quest to qualify for the NCAA Championships Thursday when play begins in the NCAA East Regional at The Golf Club of Tennessee outside of Nashville. UCF will be competing through Saturday in a field of 27 teams for 10 spots in the NCAA Championships June 1-4 at the Caves Valley Golf Club near Baltimore in Owings Mills, Md.
UCF is the 14th seed in the tournament, but UCF coach Nick Clinard believes his team has the ability to finish among the top 10 teams. "We certainly have the talent to qualify for the NCAA Championships," Clinard said. "It's just a matter of the guys playing up to their ability. They have practiced well leading up to this event and I'm confident they will play well."
UCF received an at-large bid to compete in the tournament this week as a result of its play during the season. This is the second consecutive year in an NCAA Golf Regional for UCF. The Golden Knights won the Atlantic Sun Conference's automatic NCAA bid and competed in the NCAA West Regional in Sunriver, Ore. last year, where they placed 12th, six shots shy of advancing to the NCAA Championships.
The same lineup of three freshmen, one junior and one senior that finished third in the A-Sun Championships last month just south of Nashville in Franklin, Tenn. will tee it up this week. Senior Andreas Hoegberg, leads the team with a 72.89 stroke average. He has seven top 10 finishes in 12 events this year. He will not likely be intimidated by the surroundings this week as he played the best golf of his junior season in the West Regional last year, finishing in a tie for sixth, one shot shy of advancing to the NCAA Championships as an individual.
He will be joined by junior Sonny Nimkhum and freshmen Giwon Suh, Ben Leong and Preston Brown. Leong had the best showing of his young career in the A-Sun Championships when he tied for second.
This is the ninth appearance in an NCAA Golf Regional for UCF. The Golden Knights have advanced to the NCAA Championships three times, the last being in 1992.
The Southeastern Conference is hosting the event and there will be live scoring for the tournament at golfstat.com, ncaasports.com and SECsports.com
NCAA East Regional Field Teams (seeded in the following order): 1. Georgia
2. Georgia Tech
3. Florida
4. Duke
5. Wake Forest
6. Tennessee
7. Georgia Southern
8. Alabama
9. Clemson
10. Georgia State
11. Coastal Carolina
12. East Tennessee State
13. Indiana
14. UCF
15. North Carolina
16. Louisville
17. Virginia
18. Vanderbilt
19. Charlotte
20. Penn State
21. North Carolina-Wilmington
22. Towson
23. Rhode Island
24. Rutgers
25. Maryland
26. Army
27. Boston College