ORLANDO – UCF Men's Golf alumni and 2016 Rio Olympic Games participant Ricardo Gouveia claimed victory at the Italian Challenge over the weekend after carding a 16-under 268 score in the Challenge Tour event.
Gouveia makes long-awaited return to winner's circle in Italy ??#ItalianChallenge
— Challenge Tour (@Challenge_Tour) July 25, 2021
Playing at Margara Golf Club in Fubine, Italy, from July 22-25, Gouveia posted scores of 67-68-69=204(-9) throughout the first three rounds of play to sit two back and in third place heading into the final round.
In the fourth round on Sunday, Gouveia put it all together, knocking down seven birdies to climb to the top spot in the leaderboard and secure the victory by two strokes. It is his second victory in the event after winning the 2014 Italian Challenge.
"It was an unbelievable week for me," Gouveia said in an interview following his victory. "I kept playing better and better each day even though the score did not paint that picture. Today, I felt really good, and I had one of the best warm-ups I have ever had. I knew I had to just put the pressure on from the beginning and play my game and that's what I did, and it worked really well."
While at UCF from 2011-14, Gouveia was third-team All-America and All-Region as a senior, while earning Honorable Mention All-America honors as a sophomore. Gouveia is sprinkled throughout the men's golf record book as one of the top golfers in program history. Heholds the second best 54-hole score with a 203, holds the second lowest career scoring average (71.84), and has the second best single-season scoring average with a 71.06. In his three seasons as a Knight, Gouveia won an event each year.
Also playing in the event was 2014-18 UCF Men's Golf alum Manuel Elvira, who carded a 67-64-74-72=277(-7) to finish tied for 14th place.
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