May 15, 2008

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Round Two Tee Times

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The UAB men's golf team battled heavy rains throughout the opening round of the 2008 NCAA East Regional, en route to shooting a three-over par 287. Despite playing in poor conditions throughout their round, the 10th-seeded Blazers will enter Friday's second round just six strokes back of eighth place. The top 10 teams from the regional will advance to the NCAA Championships.

"Weather conditions were terrible all day and it made it really tough to compete out there," UAB head coach Alan Kaufman said. "Considering how bad it was, we are in good shape. We have to make up some strokes, but I have a lot of confidence in this team and I think we will be fine."

The rains began just prior to the Blazers' first tee time (12:30 p.m. ET) and did not let up until well after the last UAB golfer finished.

Junior Zach Sucher, the nation's 20th-ranked golfer entering the event, led UAB with a two-under par 69. The Mobile, Ala. native recorded four birdies, three coming on the front nine, and two bogeys during his round. Sucher's score could have even been lower, but his birdie putts on No.'s 10, 13 and 14 all touched the edge of the hole, but did not drop. He will enter the second round tied for 21st overall.

Sophomore Adam West did not show any signs of jitters competing in his first-ever NCAA event. The Montgomery, Ala. native recorded one of his best rounds this season, as he finished with a one-under par 70 on the par 71, 6,900-yard Council Fire Golf Club course. West had three birdies on the afternoon and a double-bogey on the par 4 18th hole. He will enter the second round in a tie for 30th overall.

Senior Brad Smith, who was not only battling the weather, but also an illness, carded a two-over par 73 on the day. Smith was two-under par through the first 13 holes, but struggled down the stretch by going four-over par over his last five holes.

Senior Kyle Sapp closed with a four-over par 75, while junior Mike Oimoen collected a seven-over par 78 to round out UAB scoring.

Georgia showed why it was named the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Men's Golf tournament, as the Bulldogs shot a blistering 265 (-19) in the first round to take an eight-shot lead over Augusta State at 273 (-11).

Augusta State shot the round of the morning with an 11-under par 273 to take the early lead before Georgia's charge. SMU is in third at eight-under par 276.

Georgia's Hudson Swafford shot a six-under par 65 to tie for the first round lead with ASU's Henrik Norlander.

Round two of three tees off tomorrow morning, with the Blazers holding an 8 a.m. ET tee time on Friday morning. The top 10 teams and two individuals not on an advancing team gain entry to the NCAA Championships hosted by Purdue May 28-31. Live scoring can be found on golfstat.com.