May 17, 2008
Bremerton, Wash. (www.ucfathletics.com) - The 25th-ranked UCF men's golf team posted a score of 302 (+14) and has a 36-hole total of 603 (+27) after two rounds of play at the NCAA West Regional at the Gold Mountain Golf Club. The Knights are in 18th place in the team race with 18 holes left to play in the 54-hole tournament on Saturday.
Junior Greg Forest (Palm City, Fla.) carded his lowest career round in NCAA regional play with a 73 (+1) on Friday to lead the Knights in their second 18 holes of the tournament. For Forest, who is tied for 35th, it was his fifth regional round of his career and an improvement of two strokes from his opening round on the 7,111-yard layout.The top two individuals on non-advancing teams make the NCAA Championship field.
Second-ranked Southern Cal carded the low team score of the tournament with a 283 (-5) to grab the team lead with a score of 574 (-2). UCF is nine shots behind 10th-place Wisconsin (594, +18) and only 10 shots back of a trio of teams at 593 (+17) that includes Pepperdine, Kentucky and defending national champion Stanford.
"We still have a chance if we can put a solid final round together," head coach Nick Clinard said. "Anything can happen in a three-round tournament and we are very capable of posting a good score and making a run tomorrow."
Sophomore Mike Stern also improved his score by a stroke, posting a 75 (+3). Stern made a pair of birdies on his front nine and has a two-day total of 151 (+7).
Senior Giwon Suh (Orlando, Fla.) led the Knights with four birdies on his second round to post a 76 (+4). Suh is in 51st place with a two-round total of 150 (+6), while Stern is tied for 65th (151, +7).
Freshman Kyle Cobb (Tallahassee, Fla.) had his 78 (+6) count towards the team score. Cobb had three birdies on his opening nine as the team finished with 10 on the day.
Oregon's Joey Benedetti holds the individual lead after posting his second-consecutive 69 (-3). He holds a one-shot lead on Wisconsin's Dan Woltman (139, -5).
The Knights will tee off with California and North Carolina in the final round with Cobb leading UCF with a 3:12 ET tee time.
Live scoring for the three-day event will be available on www.golfstat.com.
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 check out UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.
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