ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF men’s golf team is back in action for the 2018-19 season heading to South Kent, Conn., to defend their first-place victory at the Hartford Hawks Invitational Sept. 17-18.
Kyler Tate, Bobby Bai, Jalen Ledger, Tommy Cao, Pedro Lencart Silva, and Clement Charmasson will be representing the Knights in the first event of the season after five rounds of qualifying. Charmasson will compete as an individual.
At the 2017-18 Hartford Hawks Invitational, the Knights shot 28-under par to take home the trophy. Juuso Kahlos and Tate finished first and second respectively to lead UCF to the win.
Although UCF graduated Khalos and fellow four-year letter winner, Manuel Elvira, Tate returns to the Knights for his senior year. Tate, who proved to be a consistent top golfer for UCF, looks to continue his impressive play from the 2017-18 campaign.
Last season, Tate golfed in all 13 tournaments for UCF and average 72.6 strokes per round.
Also returning for the Knights is Bobby Bai. The junior received national recognition this summer after qualifying for the US Amateur Open at Pebble Beach. While competing in the tournament, Bai grabbed a hole-in-one on a par three,
During his sophomore year, Bai won the Boilermaker Invitational after a two-round score of 139(-5). He averaged 73.1 strokes per round for the 12 events he competed in.
After his first two big tournaments as a Knights, Cao looks to be a solid returner for the young UCF squad. Cao saw action in both the Regional and National Championship events last season and gets the nod to compete in the Knights’ first tournament of the season.
The sophomore carried a 75.2 stroke average after battling in seven events.
Ledger, the second of two seniors, will play a larger role UCF. After seeing action in just one event for the Knights, he has qualified for the first tournament of the season looking to leave his mark on the program.
Newcomers, Lencart Silva and Charmasson are expected to jump right into the starting lineup for UCF. With both having impressive resumes, the pair of freshmen will replace last year’s senior duo of Elvira and Kahlos.
Charmasson boasts a 191 World Amateur Golf Ranking. The Toulouse, France native won the 2017 Grand Prix de PACA. He also recorded a ninth-place finish at the 2017 British Boys Amateur Championship and finished in 25th at the 2017 European Boys Team Championship.
Lencart Silva has had a busy summer and most recently competed in the World Amateur Team Championships near Dublin, Ireland where he represented his home country of Portugal. As a team, Lencart Silva had the top score for Portugal shooting a round three score of 73(+1) and a round for score of 71(-2). Through four rounds, the newcomer shot nine-under par, while his team finished seven-under par.
The native of Porto, Portugal is currently ranked No. 172 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings. He was the 2017 British Boys Amateur Champion. In addition to that prestigious victory, he turned in impressive results in a number of other amateur tournaments throughout Europe last year. Lencart Silva was third at the International Austrian Schulmeisterschaften 2017 Championship and recorded a sixth-place finish at the 2017 German Boys Championship.
The Knights tee of Monday morning at the Bull’s Bridge Golf Club. Live stats will not be available for this tournament.
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