The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Gator Invitational
Blazer Men's Golf Finishes Seventh At Gator Invite
2/6/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Feb. 6, 2005
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - UAB senior Ryan Thomas shot a one-over-par 71 Sunday to tie for fifth individually as he led the Blazers to a seventh place team finish at the 2005 SunTrust Gator Invitational. The Blazers improved seven spots from its finish in the same tournament last year.
The tournament, UAB's first of the spring season, was played at the par-70, 6,701-yard University of Florida Golf Course.
Thomas finished the 54-hole event at two-over for the tournament. He finished three shots behind individual medalist Jonas Blixt of Florida State, who shot a tournament-best 68 in Sunday's third and final round to win.
UAB, which stood tied for second place with host Florida after 36 holes, faltered a bit in the team standings. The Blazers shot a team score of 300 on Sunday - 12 shots off their second-round total of 288 - and dropped to seventh place in the 15-team field. The Blazers finished behind tournament title winner Florida, Wake Forest, Florida State, South Carolina, Central Florida and Georgia State. UAB beat LSU, Purdue, Tennessee, Ohio State and Kentucky, among others.
Alan Kaufman's team shot 290-288-300 for the three rounds. The Blazers were 14th out of 15 teams in the event last year.
Sophomore Garrett Osborn's rounds of 72-73-73 were good enough for a top-20 finish. The Mountain Brook, Ala., product was eight-over-par for the tournament and tied with three other players for 17th place in a field of 78 golfers.
Freshman Marco Zirov made his collegiate debut in the tournament with rounds of 75-73-74 and was tied for 34th overall with a +12 score for the 54 holes. Chris Cousins (72-72-82, T-54th) and Clark Brown (80-73-82, 73rd) also played for the Blazers.
Kaufman's club returns to action at the Mercedes Benz Collegiate Feb. 20-22 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., in a tournament hosted by perennial men's golf power North Florida. The tournament will be played at Sawgrass Country Club, home of The Players Championship, one of the PGA's most coveted titles.
