The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Finishes 15th At Mercedes-Benz Collegiate
2/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Feb. 22, 2005
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - UAB carded a third round 301 team score Tuesday and finished 15th of 17 teams at the 2005 Mercedes-Benz Collegiate at the par-72, 6,985-yard Sawgrass Country Club. Ryan Thomas shot a one-over-par 73 for UAB's low round of the day and the Blazers fought a top-heavy field throughout the event.
Chris Cousins finished with rounds of 76-73-76 for a 54-hole total of 225 to finish tied for 38th overall. Sophomore Garrett Osborn shot a two-over-par 74 Tuesday to finish with rounds of 72-80-74 and a total of 226 to tie for 41st out of 90 golfers. Thomas (77-79-73=229), and freshmen Kaylor Timmons (74-78-78=230) and Marco Zirov (80-79-78=237) also competed for the Blazers.
"I was disappointed with our scores," UAB head coach Alan Kaufman said. "We played a tough field and were a break or two here or there from putting together a pretty good run. The course played hard, the wind affected us and we didn't respond the way I had hoped we would. We'll just continue to work and get better and learn from this."
UAB was the highest ranked team in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin ratings headed into the tournament at No. 74. The Blazers finished ahead of Northwestern (No. 32) and Florida State (No. 69). No. 20 Florida fired a team score of 280 Tuesday to finish 10-over-par for the tournament and take the team title. In total, eight top-25 teams dotted the field, including No. 9 UCLA, which finished third behind Florida and Alabama, and No. 12 Duke, which finished 10th and just 15 team strokes ahead of the Blazers.
UAB's next action will be at the Conrad Rehling Spring Invitational hosted by Alabama on March 11-13 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
