Oct. 21, 2013
UCF Athletics Social Media Directory
By Andy Seeley
UCFKnights.com
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WINDERMERE, Fla. - UCF and the University of Alabama made big moves Monday at the Isleworth Intercollegiate Invitational. The No. 1-ranked Crimson Tide retained the lead after going 24-under with a two-day total 552. UCF is in second at 13-under with a two-round total of 563.
Alabama was 16 under par on Monday, rolling to a big lead. The Knights had the second-best Monday round, posting a 7-under 281. UCF was on fire on the back nine for much of the day. Between holes 10 and 16, the Knights posted 13 birdies and did not record one bogey. They gave a few strokes back on 17 and 18, but still maintained a seven-stroke edge over third-place California.
UCF head coach Bryce Wallor said playing smart has been the key through the first two rounds.
"The guys have done a great job for two days," Wallor said. "We talked heavily coming into this event about trying to play from the center of the green to the flag. Land the ball on the middle of the green and putt to the flag. They've done a good job being a little bit conservative and because of that they hit a lot of greens in regulation and had a lot of birdie chances."
UCF was paced by Greg Eason's 3-under 69 Monday. His six birdie, three bogey performance left him with a two-day total of 137 (-7), which was good enough to put him three strokes off the lead and in third place. Freshman Ryan Stovash carded a 1-under 71 Monday to leave him at -3 for the tournament and in a tie for 10th place. Kyle Wilshire also turned in a second-round 71 and is tied for 12th at -2.
"I didn't play fantastic golf today, but I managed to get a few good putts, especially on the back nine," Eason said. "I guess I have some momentum heading into the final round now, so we can hopefully try and do the same thing and see where we go."
Linus Vaisanen has carded back-to-back +1 scores of 73 in the first two rounds. At 2-over, he is tied for 34th. Ricardo Gouveia bounced back from a rough first round to post a 2-under 70 and contribute to Monday's team score. Gouveia is at +3 for the tournament and is tied for 37th.
"In the last few years we haven't played in this tournament as well as we wanted to, but this year we're really committed to some of the goals that we've made during the practice round," Gouveia said.
It's working out for us really well. It was a great day for us and we're really looking forward for tomorrow."
California and Illinois are still battling for the third spot after putting together two-round totals of 570 (-6) and 573 (-3), respectively. UNLV completes the top five with a total of 574 (-2).
The final round of the Isleworth Collegiate Invitational will take place on Tuesday, as teams will begin teeing off at 8 a.m. Live scoring is available by clicking here.