The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Conference USA
UAB Men's Golf Third After C-USA Second Round
4/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
April 19, 2005
SAUCIER, Miss. - UAB shot a 296 - 10 strokes more than its first round total - in Tuesday's second round of the 2005 Conference USA Men's Golf Championships and dropped to third place in the 14-team field heading into Wednesday's deciding final round. Sophomore Garrett Osborn's even-par 72 helped the Mountain Brook, Ala., product hold on to a tie for third place on the individual leaderboard at the Grand Bear Golf Course.
No. 11 TCU added to its lead with a second-round 282 and stands 19 shots ahead of second place Charlotte at 16-under-par for the tournament. Charlotte passed UAB Tuesday with a two-over 290 team tally. The Blazers' 582 is good for third place while Tulane is one shot back in fourth and Houston rounds out the top five at 589.
"We had a couple of scores higher than we needed today," UAB head coach Alan Kaufman said. "Garrett and Clark (Brown) did what we needed them to do. Our other guys were a couple of strokes off their standard, which hurt us a bit. We're still in this thing, though and we'll come out swinging on Wednesday."
Should UAB rally for a runner-up finish, the Blazers could put themselves in position to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA East Regional next month. The team that wins the C-USA Tournament on Wednesday receives an automatic bid.
"At this point, an at-large to the regionals isn't very likely," Kaufman said. "But if we go out and play strong tomorrow, anything is possible."
Osborn stands at four-under-par for the tournament after his first-round 68 on Monday. He is tied with Robin Smith of ECU, who faltered with a two-over 74 after an impressive 66 in the first round. Colby Beckstrom of TCU shot a one-under 71 Tuesday to jump into the lead with a two-round total of six-under-par, 138. Drew Stoltz of TCU is in second place with a five-under 139.
UAB junior Clark Brown also fired even par on Tuesday, putting him in a tie with six others for 12th overall at two-over for the tournament. Ryan Thomas and Chris Cousins are tied for 22nd overall with two other golfers. Thomas followed a first-round 73 with a 75 on Tuesday. Cousins dropped from a one-under 71 to a five-over 77 on Tuesday. Freshman Kaylor Timmons shot an 85 on Tuesday. He is in 64th place in the 70-person field.
A team and individual conference champion will be crowned on Wednesday as the three-day, 54-hole tournament finishes at the par-72, 7,093-yard course just north of Gulfport, Miss. Tee times begin off of No. 1 and No. 10 at 7:30 a.m.
