Feb. 3, 2012
By Brandon Naidus
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - After winning its third-consecutive Conference USA Championship last season, the UCF men's golf team experienced some change in the offseason. Senior Nuno Henriques, junior Connor Arendell and assistant coach Toby Ragland pursued professional playing careers. So, the squad had some new faces join the program. Sophomores Ricardo Gouveia (Almancil, Porgual) and Jose Joia (Lagoa, Portugal) transferred from Lynn and freshman McCabe Buege (Rogers, Minn.) joined the team. Former professional golfer and standout collegiate golfer at Michigan Bill Rankin joined the team as its assistant coach.
None of these changes seemed to bother the Knights, as they won their first two tournaments. Senior Brad Schneider (Valrico, Fla.) earned co-medalist honors at the Northern Intercollegiate, the team's first tournament of the season, while Gouveia claimed medalist honors at the team's next tournament, the Adams Cup of Newport. The Knights finished their fall half of the season with the Isleworth Collegiate Invitational, in nearby Windermere, Fla.
Recently the players shared some of their thoughts about their lifetime golf experiences.
Class: Junior
Hometown: Mukilteo, Wash.
Growing up, who was your favorite golfer?
"Growing up, it had to be Ernie Els. A lot of people compared my game to Ernie, so I just kind of began to like him. It was fun also watching Tiger dominate in the early ages. Ernie and Tiger are probably the two."
What sport do you like to play besides golf?
"Basketball. I love going to the court when I have time. I don't get out there often, but I love playing pickup games. I'd like to get out there a little more. I used to play basketball growing up."
What is your best golf memory?
"When I was eight years old, I walked under the ropes with Tiger for 18 holes for a practice round. I talked to him, met him and got signatures from him. It was pretty cool."
What is your favorite shot?
"Probably an 80-yard wedge. For some reason when I step over it, I like the looks of it."
Besides being a professional golfer, what is your dream job?
"Growing up, I was always in golf, around golf, so if it wasn't a professional golfer, I would want to design and create courses. So if this does not work out, I will probably try to get into that. I love the landscape of courses. I'd love to try and create it."
Class: Sophomore
Hometown: Georgetown, Ky.
What golfer do you try to emulate?
"One that I try to emulate right now is Dustin Johnson. I don't really match his game, but I like the way he carries himself. It would be either him or Davis Love, very stoic figures. They don't show a whole lot of emotion and their games are really solid. So either Davis Love or Dustin Johnson."
What is your favorite sport to watch besides golf?
"College basketball or professional football. I am from Kentucky, so college basketball is a big thing there. I grew up playing all kinds of sports. I don't really watch much baseball anymore, but I played baseball in high school. I did enjoy going to games."
What is the coolest course you have played?
"It is Isleworth, here in Orlando. I had always heard it was really nice. It is not only that the holes are really good; it is just a challenge all the way around. It really tests your game."
What is your best shot?
"Hopefully I get to one day where they are all my best shot. I have consistency hitting the ball in the fairway. I like to drive the ball. The more I have developed my short game, any chip or pitch shot; I like to see it get really close. So 20-50 yard wedge shots, those are kind of my focal point. I enjoy those quite a bit."
Besides being a professional golfer, what is a job you can see yourself doing in the future?
"I would like to stay in the golf business somehow. My dad is a golf professional back home. He is a club pro. I think being a golf professional would be nice. I like to teach. Being in the golf business is something I have done all my life. If it had to be away from golf, it would be something in sports. I have always been very athletic and always been around sports, so sports agent, dealing with teams, anything like that would be kind of neat."
Class: Sophomore
Hometown: Almancil, Portugal
Growing up, who was your favorite golfer?
"It was Tiger Woods. For me, he was always the perfect player. He practices a lot. He does his own thing. Everyone knows he is the best. Growing up, he was the best golfer ever."
What is your favorite sport to watch besides golf?
"Soccer, it is very big in Europe, where I come from. I like to watch soccer a lot."
What is your best golf memory?
"My best golf memory so far is when I won the national championship back home. It was a boost for me because I was struggling at the time. I felt it was great. It was a great boost for me to come through all of my struggles."
What is your favorite shot?
"My favorite shot is a little left to right. It is called a fade. When I am under pressure, that is the kind of shot I want to hit at all times."
Besides being a professional golfer, what is a job you can see yourself doing in the future?
"Maybe teach if being a professional does not work out. I would like to teach kids or be the national coach of Portugal."
Class: Sophomore
Hometown: Leicester City, England
Who is a golfer that you try to emulate?
"It is Tiger Woods. He has been through some difficult times, but it would be nice to see him come through it. It would be nice to try to emulate his success once again."
What is your favorite sport to play besides golf?
"I quite enjoy Badminton actually. I used to play when I was younger. It keeps you fit."
What is the coolest course you have played?
"Isleworth, which is right down the road from where Tiger lives. Or maybe a place called Valderrama in Spain. Both are pretty similar. They are very high standard golf courses."
What is your favorite shot?
"I like flop shots right around the green. They are tricky ones. You flop it up right in the air and try to get it to stop pretty quick and spin it back a bit."
Besides being a professional golfer, what is a job you can see yourself doing in the future?
"Maybe engineering, I quite like that sort of stuff. Or some sort of sales. I quite like the construction of buildings and bridges."
Class: Sophomore
Hometown: Lagoa, Portugal
Growing up, who was your favorite golfer?
"Rory McIlroy. I played a couple of tournaments that he was in and I love the way he played."
What is your favorite sport to play besides golf?
"Soccer. It is known as fútbol in Europe. Every kid in Portugal plays soccer when they are young, so it was my favorite sport and then golf came up. I have stuck with golf."
What is your best golf memory?
"The hole-in-one I had when I was 12. It is a good memory."
What is your best shot?
"My driver is my strongest part of my game."
Besides being a professional golfer, what is your dream job?
"Being a soccer player would be my dream job. I played in a soccer club."
Class: Sophomore
Hometown: Lake Mary, Fla.
Who is a golfer that you try to emulate?
"Right now I would have to say K.J. (Choi).He is playing well right now. The way he plays the game, he is just really calm. I really like that in him."
Besides golf, what is your favorite sport to watch?
"I like to watch basketball. I like the pace of it. It is fast and exciting. "
What is the coolest golf course you have played?
"Isleworth, it is such a great course. It is a privilege to play out there. I enjoy it."
What is your best shot?
"I would say driver. I hit it pretty far. It feels good if you just kill one right down the fairway."
Besides being a professional golfer, what is your dream job?
"I am not sure. I have been playing golf for so long. It would probably be something in the business area and something that makes a lot of money."
Class: Freshman
Hometown: Rogers, Minn.
What golfer do you try to emulate?
"The person I have always looked at is Tiger. He always wins and that is what I have always wanted to do. He just achieves all of his goals and it makes me want to strive for mine."
What is your favorite sport to play besides golf?
"I follow baseball the most besides golf. It is the sports I love the most besides golf. I had to quit because I had to choose one or the other."
What is your best golf memory?
"Getting a hole-in-one. I got my first hole-in-one when I was 12. It flew right in the hole and I didn't even know where it was. It took me like five minutes to figure out where it went."
What is your favorite shot?
"Flop shots. I like to hit the ball high and soft, anything where you have to hit it really high."
Besides being a professional golfer, what is your dream job?
"Anything where I owned my own business and made a lot of money. I would like to own something big and make cash."
With three months of their four month midseason break in the books, the spring half of the schedule is quickly approaching. The Knights will open up play in 2012, as the No. 16 team in the nation, when they head to Gainesville to participate in the Gator Invitational Feb. 11-12. Some other tournaments highlight the Knights spring schedule, as the Knights will host the Rio Pinar Invitational from March 19-20. In late April, the squad will try to claim its fourth-consecutive Conference USA Championship.