March 28, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - After a long hiatus, the 15th-ranked UCF men's golf team will return to action Sunday when competition begins at the Hootie at Bulls Bay in Awendaw, S.C. The three-day event at the Bulls Bay Golf Club will conclude Tuesday.
Fifteen squads are slated to participate in the three-round tournament, including No. 5 Clemson, No. 10 South Carolina, No. 22 NC State and No. 24 Wake Forest.
The Knights will be in action for the first time since Feb. 24, when the team claimed the title at the Rio Pinar Invitational in Orlando. Freshman Blayne Barber (Lake City, Fla.) won medalist honors at the two-day tournament. Since winning the event, UCF has moved up several spots in the national polls. The team was ranked 21st at the time of Rio Pinar Invitational.
In addition to Barber, senior David Johnson (Palm City, Fla.), junior Simon Ward (County Monaghan, Ireland), sophomore Jed Dirksen (Hampton, Iowa) and redshirt freshman Brad Schneider (Valrico, Fla.) will be in action in South Carolina for head coach Nick Clinard.
In 2008-09, the Knights have won two championship titles and posted four total top-five finishes.
A year ago, UCF tied for eighth at the Hootie at Bulls Bay. Johnson tied for 45th on the individual side. NC State claimed the team title.
Live statistics will be available at Golfstat.com.
For the latest news on the Knights, log on to UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.