May 29, 2013
UCF Athletics Social Media Directory
By Andy Seeley
UCFAthletics.com
Leaderboard | Eason In 2nd Place |Eason Bogey-Free (Golfweek.com) | Photo Album
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (UCFAthletics.com) - A red-hot start and a strong finish in Wednesday's second round have UCF in good position at the NCAA Championship, being played at the Capital City Club Crabapple Course.
The Knights are in ninth place with one round of stroke play remaining on Thursday. The top eight teams after stroke play advance to the match-play rounds, which take place Friday-Sunday and determine the national championship. UCF is +1 for the tournament, while Texas A&M (E) is just one stroke ahead in eighth. In fact, the Knights are within four strokes of Illinois and Arkansas (-3), which are tied for fifth.
It was quick. We had a lot of birdies early, UCF head coach Bryce Wallor said. It was a fast start. It was kind of like last week. Once we got that little run of birdies going, obviously emotions are a lot stronger with the guys, they're feeling good. I think it just gave everybody some energy and kept us going.
Greg Eason (-5 for the tournament) remained the top golfer for the Knights, moving into a tie for second place as an individual after the second round. (Link to other story) But it was No. 3 golfer Kyle Wilshire and No. 4 player Jose Joia who really lifted the team. Wilshire and Joia combined to turn in seven birdies in the first five holes. After shooting a 7-over 77 Tuesday, Wilshire rebounded in a big way with a 1-under 69. Joia bounced back from a +2 first round to card a 66 (-4) in the second round.
The team needed me, needs everyone, Joia said. We put on a good show today. Hopefully tomorrow we'll play the same and qualify (for match play).
We're getting support one to four, Wallor said. Four guys keep stepping up every week. They're taken the onus on them and said 'If we're going to do it, it's got to be me.' We've been talking about that for the past month. They've bought into it and moved in the right direction.
Being in contention to make the match play round is nothing new to these Knights. UCF was atop the leaderboard midway through the second round last season. But they stumbled a bit and fell out of contention. All four of UCF's top four golfers - Eason, Joia, Wilshire and Ricardo Gouveia - were part of that contingent. They believe going through that will help them as they fight to crack the top eight this year.
We were there, we there last year during the second round, Eason said. I think that feeling will help pull us through a bit this year. There is a lot of pressure for this tournament. I think last year's experiences will help us a lot.
UCF tees off from 12:50 through 1:30 Thursday. The Knights will begin their round on the back nine. To follow the NCAA's live scoring web site, click here.
Team Leaderboard
1. Georgia Tech 274-274=548 (-12)
2. California 277-272=549 (-11)
3. Texas 279-271=550 (-10)
4. Albama 275-276=551 (-9)
T5. Illinois 276-281=557 (-3)
T5. Arkansas 286-271=557 (-3)
9. UCF 287-274=561 (+1)
UCF Golfers
T2.>Greg Eason 68-67=135 (-5)
T24. Jose Joia 72-66=138 (-2)
T72. Ricardo Gouveia 70-73=143 (+3)
T113. Kyle Wilshire 77-69=146 (+6)
T152. Michael Visacki 80-76=156 (+16)