May 28, 2013
UCF Athletics Social Media Directory
By Andy Seeley
UCFAthletics.com
Day 1 Photo Album| Eason Named All-Region | Leaderboard
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (UCFAthletics.com) - Coming off his individual title at the NCAA Tempe Regional, UCF junior Greg Eason was solid in the first round of the NCAA Championship. Eason fired a 2-under 68 to pace the No. 31-ranked Knights and put himself in a tie for eighth place at the Capital City Club Crabapple Course Tuesday.
For the first time in his UCF career, Eason put together a bogey-free round. He scored par on each of the first 13 holes he played Tuesday, after teeing off on the 10th hole. Finally, on his 14th hole of the day, the Par-4 5th, he dropped in a birdie putt to move 1-under. After three more pars, Eason's approach on his last hole of the day - the Par-4 9th - dropped within four feet of the cup. He calmly sank the birdie putt to account for his final tally.
I got off to a nice start, level par for the front nine, Eason said. It was nice to make a couple birdies on the back nine. I'm going to try to do the same thing (Wednesday), maybe hole a couple more putts. This is a challenging golf course. I think when the wind does get up, it will be a lot more challenging than today. We'll see the scores move up a little bit. The field might come back a bit as well. But hole a few more putts and I'll be fine, I think.
UCF head coach Bryce Wallor was impressed with his top player's course management and demeanor throughout the day.
He had two birdies and a lot of solid pars, Wallor said. What I think that means is a lot of good decisions were made. He played the golf ball in the right places and didn't take any huge risks. When his chances came, he took advantage of the opportunity. He's maturing and turning into one hell of a player.
Right behind Eason for the Knights was junior Ricardo Gouveia, who finished his round at even-par and is in a tie for 33rd place heading into the second round. Gouveia turned in a very consistent round as well. He recorded one bogey and one birdie on both the front nine and back nine.
Jose Joia is currently 2-over (72) and tied for 66th place. Kyle Wilshire's +7 (77) round accounted for the remainder of the scoring for UCF. Michael Visacki was also taking part for the Knights. He finished with a score of 80 (+10) for the day.
As a team, UCF is currently tied for 19th place after the first round. Wallor categorized the round as fair, but he knows his team needs to score better Wednesday to make a run at a top-eight finish in stroke play to have the opportunity to advance to the match-play round.
We had some guys play well, Wallor said. Obviously, you're going to count four scores and we need four solid scores. But I'm really proud of the way they finished. We made a few birdies late. We had a couple guys finish up real strong and that bodes well going into tomorrow.
UCF golfers tee off between 1:30 and 2:10 p.m. in Wednesday's second round. Wallor said he and assistant coach Bill Rankin will be at the course early to scout the conditions.
It will be important for Bill and me to get out early, watch the golf, take a look at the golf course, see the hole locations, see how the course is playing, Wallor said. Hopefully we don't get too much wind in the afternoon. As you saw at the Tempe Regional, there are four guys here who can do the job and all four of those guys have to do it tomorrow.
To follow the tournament's live scoring, click here.
Team Leaderboard
1. Arizona State 270 (-10)
2. Georgia Tech 274 (-6)
3. Alabama 275 (-5)
4. Illinois 276 (-4)
5. California 277 (-3)
T19. UCF 287 (+7)
UCF Golfers
T8. Greg Eason 68 (-2)
T33. Ricardo Gouveia 70 (E)
T66.>Jose Joia 72 (+2)
T142. Kyle Wilshire 77 (+7)
T152. Michael Visacki 80 (+10)