May 29, 2013
UCF Athletics Social Media Directory
By Andy Seeley
UCFAthletics.com
Leaderboard | Round Two Recap | Golfweek.com Greg Eason Feature
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (UCFAthletics.com) -- There are 156 golfers taking part in the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship at the Capital City Club Crabapple Course this week. One of them has played all 36 holes without a bogey - UCF junior Greg Eason.
Eason went around the course in Tuesday's first round with 16 pars and a pair of birdies. Wednesday, he tallied four birdies. At 6-under for the tournament, Eason is in a tie for second place and just one stroke off the lead, held by Arizona State's Jon Rahm, who is -7.
But back to the bogey-free golf. Following Eason's outstanding performance Wednesday, he and UCF head coach Bryce Wallor were each asked by a reporter when Eason's last bogey was. Eason wasn't 100 percent sure when it was.
I'm sure he made one in practice this past week, Wallor quipped.
After 36 holes at the NCAA Championship without one, it only seems as though it was forever ago when Eason last put a square around a number on his scorecard. For the record, his last official bogey came on the final hole of the NCAA Tempe Regional on May 18. That bogey didn't hurt much, as Eason won the individual title, the first regional championship ever for a Knight golfer.
Now, a lack of bogeys and some well-timed birdies have Eason on the verge of history again. He is in position to take a crack at the NCAA Championship. Many of those birdies came on the back nine Wednesday.
The steady Eason was just 1-under at the turn in the second round. But a hard-fought par on the 12th hole at the Crabapple Course got him going.
I got really lucky on one of the par-5s, Eason said. I managed to scramble to a par and got some momentum from that. I played some good shots, played some good targets and made some good putts, and it just seemed to build on that.
From there, Eason rolled home three birdie putts over the course of the final six holes of the day. But none was bigger than the 15-footer he dropped on the 18th hole with each of his teammates watching just off the green. After the putt dropped, there was polite applause from the gallery. But the Knights erupted.
It was great, Eason said of the reaction. The guys all cheered when it went in. It was really nice, actually. I knew we were doing quite well and that was going to be an important putt, so it was great to see it go in.
Eason will now have to wait until Thursday afternoon to see if the momentum from that huge putt will carry over for him and the Knights. While Eason and his teammates are battling for a spot in the match-play championship rounds, he could also become the UCF program's first national champion.
That's really cool, Eason said of his positioning as an individual. We're here for the team, but going for the individual spot, that's great. Hopefully I'll have a good round tomorrow and we'll see where it takes us.