May 20, 2006
ORLANDO - Senior Sonny Nimkhum shot a final-round 6-over 78 Saturday and finished tied for 74th in a field of 141 players at the NCAA East Regional at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club. Nimkhum began the day tied for 39th at 5-over-par and needed to make a big move to advance to the NCAA Championship at the Crosswater Club in Sunriver, Ore. May 31-June 3.
"Nothing really worked out for me today," Nimkhum said. "When you are not putting well it puts added pressure on your long game and I short-sided myself a couple times trying to do a little too much. It was a learning experience."
Beginning on the back nine, Nimkhum made a birdie on the 13th hole to get to 1-under for the day and 4-over for the tournament, but then made bogeys on seven of the next eight holes to fall out of contention.
"Sonny played great the first two days, but his putter really let him down," UCF coach Nick Clinard said. "He probably only hit two or three bad shots all day today and just six or seven bad shots for the whole tournament, but his score does not reflect that."
Wake Forest won the team title by one stroke over Georgia at even par, while UCLA's Kevin Chappell won medalist honors at 5-under. The final individual to advance to the NCAA Championship, Scott Stallings of Tennessee Tech, finished at 2-under.