Nov. 15, 2010
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By Doug Richards
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - One of the nation's premier junior golfers will compete for the UCF men's golf team starting next fall as McCabe Buege of Rogers, Minn., has signed a National Letter of Intent with the Knights, head coach Bryce Wallor announced Monday. Buege, who attends Rogers High School, is listed as the 48th-best high school senior in the country by the Junior Golf Scoreboard.
The 2010 Minnesota Golf Association Junior Boys' Player of the Year, Buege excelled in junior tournaments this past summer. He qualified for the Junior PGA Championship after taking first at the PGA Junior Series at Yahara Hills in Madison, Wis. Buege qualified for the match play portion of the USGA Junior Amateur Championship. He was also a qualifier at the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship and placed 11th at the Minnesota State Junior Boys Championship.
"Mac is an absolutely outstanding student-athlete," Wallor said. "Someone who brings strong academic credentials is very important to us as a program, an athletics department and as a university. We had the chance to watch Mac play many rounds of golf this summer. We saw him for the first time at the U.S. Junior Championship and he was extremely impressive. He has great length off the tee and a nice, soft touch around the greens. We just think that he is going to be a great fit for us."
Last spring, Buege led Rogers High School to the Minnesota Section 5AAA title and the Tri-State Invitational championship. He finished fourth at the Minnesota AAA State High School Tournament. In both 2009 and 2010, he earned Minnesota AAA All-State honors.
"He played well on every level. If you look at his junior results from last year to this year, his growth was across the board. He played well at home. He played well in regional golf and then played well in national tournaments. He simply continues to get better," Wallor said.
Buege's brother, Colton, is a freshman at Minnesota where he is a member of Golden Gophers' golf squad.
Buege will join a UCF team that has enjoyed great success since Wallor took over the program in 2009. The Knights claimed the Conference USA Championship title last year and earned a berth in the NCAA Regionals. This fall, UCF recorded a pair of top-five finishes, highlighted by the tournament title at the Adams Cup of Newport in Rhode Island.