GAINESVILLE (UCFKnights.com) -- Senior Juuso Kahlos' turned in his best tournament score ever as a Knight and led the UCF men's golf team to a fifth-place finish at the SunTrust Gator Invitational, which wrapped up Sunday.
Kahlos' 54-hole score of 206 (-4) was the lowest three-round total in his four years as a Knight. Kahlos tallied 10 birdies and just six bogeys through the course of three rounds at the Mark Bostick Golf Course. He opened with a 67, followed it up with a 70 and wrapped up Sunday with a 68. Kahlos was tied for the lead in the tournament in Par 3 scoring, going 1-under on the shortest holes throughout the tournament.
As a team, the Knights finished fifth in the 16-team event. No. 5 Vanderbilt (-18), No. 6 Florida (-9), No. 25 USF (-5), No. 32 North Florida (-3) and UCF (-2) were the only squads to finish under par for the tournament. The Knights picked up victories over No. 14 Arkansas and No. 27 Missouri in addition to their top-five finish.
Individually, junior Manuel Elvira was in the Top 20. The Spaniard carded a three-round total of 210 (E) to finish in a tie for 20th. Bobby Bai and Donnie Trosper were +1 and +2, respectively and finished tied for 22nd and tied for 27th. Kyler Tate led the tournament in scores of par with 44 over the course of 54 holes. But he managed only three birdies, en route to a 35th-place finish at 4-over par. Tommy Cao played as an individual and finished +7 to tie for 46th.
The Knights have two weeks off before their next competition. UCF will hit the links again March 5-7 at the Southern Highlands Intercollegiate in Las Vegas.