Feb. 24, 2012
By Brandon Naidus
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Two weeks removed from a strong showing at the Gator Invitational, the No. 17 UCF men's golf team heads to Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., to play in the John Hayt Invitational. The three-day tournament begins Sunday. The Knights will play 18 holes each of the three days at Sawgrass Country Club.
No. 13 North Florida will be hosting the tournament. No. 8 Arkansas, Coastal Carolina, Furman, Georgia Southern, Jacksonville, No. 23 LSU, Mercer, Mississippi, North Texas, TCU, Tennessee, Tulsa and UAB round out the rest of the field.
The Knights will go with the same five players from the Gator Invitational. Lone senior Brad Schneider (Valrico, Fla.) finished in the top 25 in Gainesville. This will be the third time Schneider has played in this tournament as a Knight.
The four other Knights playing in the tournament are sophomores. Greg Eason (Leicester City, England) seeks to repeat his performance from last year's tournament. He finished the tournament tied for sixth, with a 215 (-1). His play at last year's tournament earned him Conference USA Golfer of the Week honors.
Ricardo Gouveia (Almancil, Portugal) looks to repeat his solid performance from his last outing. Gouveia tied for sixth at the Gator Invitational and was named C-USA Golfer of the Week the following week.
This will be the first time Kyle Wilshire (Georgetown, Ky.) and Jose Joia (Lagoa, Portugal) play in the tournament.
Last year, the Knights finished fourth at the tournament. Fans can follow the action live on golfstat.com