ORLANDO (UCFKnights.com) -- UCF head coach Bryce Wallor has announced his team's lineup for the Gator Invitational, set for Saturday and Sunday in Gainesville.
Kyler Tate, Juuso Kahlos, Donnie Trosper, Manuel Elvira and Bobby Bai will represent the Knights in the team portion of the first event of the spring. Tommy Cao will play as an individual.
"This event is full of great competition and the golf course offers a very hilly terrain and small greens," Wallor said. "This type of golf course requires accurate ball striking and good decision making with regard to game management. As a coaching staff, we never try to make too big a deal about our first event, as our players have returned home from winter break and are now just getting back into the swing of things. We always see this first event as a marking point to evaluate how we came off of the winter break and what we need to work on to improve moving toward the post season. During our qualifying rounds, the boys have been too aggressive and they have made some large numbers. With the greens being so small and missed greens being so important at the Gator, we believe if our guys take a more conservative approach we should score well."
Wallor said he and the team always look forward to the spring portion of the season beginning.
"This is such a great time of the year for our program," he said. "Our players are extremely excited about the competition we will face this spring. We feel that our tournament schedule will test our abilities and we are excited to see where we stack up nationally."
Seven rounds of qualifying were held, three rounds at Lake Nona, two rounds at Northshore and two rounds at Isleworth.
The following is a look at scores from qualifying, as well as other factors that went into selecting the lineup:
Gator Invitational Qualifying PlayerRd1 - LNRd 2 - LNRd 3 - NSRd4 - IWRd 5 - LNRd 6 - NSRd 7 - IWTotalKyler Tate74767175747070510 (+6)Juuso Kahlos73747177727077514 (+10)Donnie Trosper74736875737578516 (+12)Manuel Elvira76747275697281519 (+15)Bobby Bai73747479787076524 (+20)Tommy Cao80717284717276526 (+22)Colin Kresl86757575807773541 (+37)Jake Grula76787782817281547 (+43)Cheng Liu83868485838683590 (+86)Jalen Ledger8274DNP77767680WD (+33)
- Kyler Tate qualified for the 2018 Gator Invitational by virtue winning the seven round qualifier with a score of +6.
- Juuso Kahlos is exempt for the 2018 Gator Invitational by virtue of a Top 5 finish at the FGCU Invitational.
- Donnie Trosper qualified for the third spot in the lineup for the 2018 Gator Invitational by virtue finishing 3rd in the seven round qualifier with a score of +12.
- Manuel Elvira is exempt for the 2018 Gator Invitational by virtue of a Top 5 finish at the FGCU Invitational.
- Bobby Bai will play in the fifth spot as a coaches' selection for the 2018 Gator Invitational. Bobby also had a 5th place finish in the seven round qualifier with a score of +20.
Individual – Tommy Cao qualified as an individual for the 2018 Gator Invitational by virtue of a 6th place finish in the seven round qualifier with a score of +22.