COLLEGE GROVE, Tenn. (UCFKnights.com) -- Led by junior Manuel Elvira and sophomore Kyler Tate, the UCF men's golf team put itself in a positive position Tuesday afternoon at The Grove Golf Course. The Knights are tied for second place after two rounds at the NCAA College Grove Regional. The top five teams after Wednesday's final round will advance to the NCAA Championship.
Vanderbilt holds the lead after two rounds at -12. UCF, Lipscomb and Clemson are all bunched together at -4. Kennesaw State is in fifth place at -1, while Troy is 2-over. All other teams are at least 10 strokes over par after two rounds of action.
"Today was another solid day for our team," head coach Bryce Wallor said. "The team has continued to work hard after each round and the effort is paying off to this point."
Elvira and Tate are each tied for fourth in the individual standings. Elvira opened with a pair of birdies early in his round Tuesday. But four bogeys left him two strokes over par for the day, heading down the stretch. But he finished strong, carding birdies on Nos. 15 and 18. That left him at even par for the day and -5 for the tournament after an opening round 67. Tate sandwiched four birdies around two bogeys on the front nine. He then proceeded to card pars on hole Nos. 10-17. Like Elvira, he turned in a birdie on the Par 5 18th hole. That final birdie gave him a final tally of 69 (-3) for the day and put him at -5 for the tournament.
In addition to Tate and Elvira, senior Ryan Stovash stepped up in a big way Tuesday. One day after tallying an 11-over score of 83, he carded a 2-under round of 70 Tuesday. His counting score helped the Knights maintain the second-place position they held after one round.
"Both Kyler and Ryan had under par rounds today with slightly more difficult wind and course conditions," Wallor said. "Manuel played another strong round today, following up his opening round of five under par with a solid even par round."
Juuso Kahlos was 4-over par on Tuesday to round out the scoring for UCF. The top four scores the five golfers count in each round. Freshman Bobby Bai is the final member of the Knights' lineup. He was 5-over in the second round.
UCF hits the course Wednesday morning, looking to advance to the NCAA Championship round. Thirty teams (the top five from six regional tournaments) will play for the National Championship May 26-31 at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill.
