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Men's Golf to Open NCAA West Regional Play Thursday

May 14, 2008

Tournament Notes in PDF Format

BREMERTON, Wash. (www.ucfathletics.com) - Starting Thursday, the 25th-ranked UCF men's golf team will continue its successful 2007-08 campaign as the Knights will begin competition at the NCAA West Regional at the Gold Mountain Golf Club. The Knights, who earned an at-large invitation to the postseason, are one of 27 squads that will play in the three-day, three-round event.

Head coach Nick Clinard's Knights will be making their second-consecutive appearance in the postseason. In seven campaigns at UCF, Clinard has guided his team to the NCAA Regionals on four occasions.

In 2007-08, the Knights have had a strong campaign. The squad has spent the majority of the 2007-08 season in the top 25 of the national rankings.

For the first time since 2003-04, the Knights won two tournaments during a year. On Feb. 26, the squad won its home event, taking the title at the UCF Rio Pinar Invitational in Orlando. UCF claimed its second crown on April 14, winning the UK Bluegrass Invitational in Lexington, Ky.

UCF has received the ninth seed at the west regional and will tee off at 11:40 a.m. EST on Thursday.

The Knights will compete against some of the nation's best squads at the regional, including No. 2 Southern California, No. 4 UCLA, No. 9 Florida State and No. 11 Stanford. A year ago, Stanford claimed the national championship.

The top-10 teams from each of the three regional sites will advance to the NCAA Championship in West Lafayette, Ind., May 28-31.

UCF's lineup for the event features senior Giwon Suh (Orlando, Fla./Olympia), juniors Greg Forest (Palm City, Fla./Martin County) and David Johnson (Palm Bay, Fla./Melbourne), sophomore Mike Stern (Miami, Fla./Killian) and freshman Kyle Cobb (Tallahassee, Fla./Leon).

In April, Johnson, a transfer from Brevard Community College, was named the Conference USA Newcomer of the year. He was joined on the all-conference first team by Forest.

In 2007, the Knights participated in the NCAA East Regional in Alpharetta, Ga., and placed 13th. Forest, Stern and Suh all competed in the event for UCF.

For the latest news and information on the Knights, tickets or apparel, log on to www.ucfathletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. Also visit www.ucfphotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.