April 22, 2008

• C-USA Championship Central

TEXARKANA, Ark. - The No. 26 UAB men's golf team finished with a team score of seven-under par 857 to capture the program's first-ever Conference USA Championship title and earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Regionals. Additionally, junior Zach Sucher earned the C-USA medalist honor with a nine-under par 207, and became the second Blazer in as many years to win the individual title (Garrett Osborn won in 2007).

"I am mighty proud of this team," UAB head coach Alan Kaufman said. "I told the team last night to only worry about what we are capable of doing and not what the other teams do. When we made the turn, I believe we were in third and I just told them to keep playing hard and they came through in a big, big way. This was truly a team effort."

The Blazers captured the event with a stunning comeback after a third-place standing following each of the opening two rounds. Memphis led after two rounds and held a four-stroke lead entering Tuesday's final 18 holes. However, the Blazers controlled play from the first hole en route to becoming the first UAB men's sport to capture a C-USA Tournament Championship since the soccer team won the league title in 1999.

"I am happy about the individual title, but that is not what's important to me," Sucher said. "The main objective going into today was getting a team championship and it feels great that we accomplished that. The individual title just made it that much sweeter."

After shooting rounds of 283 and 291 through the first two days, the Blazers blistered the course for a five-under par 283, which was five strokes better than the rest of the field. Southern Miss, who entered the day tied with UAB for third overall, finished second with an 866 (286-288-292). Meanwhile, Memphis carded a 300 on the day to slip from first to third overall and finished with an 868 (277-291-300).

Sucher was impressive throughout the event, as he recorded his second consecutive tournament crown, his third medalist honor this season and the fourth title of his standout career. Sucher, who entered the event ranked No. 32 in the nation in Golfweek.com's latest individual rankings, led the entire three-day, 54-hole event. Sucher began the championship with a four-under par 68 on Sunday and finished the day among a six-way tie for first overall. The Mobile, Ala. native then staked himself to a two-stroke advantage through two rounds after firing a tournament-low round of six-under par 66 on Monday. Despite shooting a one-over par 73 on Tuesday, Sucher closed with a nine-under par 207 to claim the tournament title by two strokes over teammate Brad Smith.

Sucher became the third golfer in school history to capture the C-USA Championship medalist honor, and the second Blazer in as many years to claim the title. Last year, Garrett Osborn earned the award with a four-under par 212 on the very same Texarkana Country Club course. Former Blazer Chris Devlin is also among the elite group of UAB conference champions, as he claimed the award in 1997.

Despite Sucher's performance, UAB would not have won the program's first-ever C-USA Championship had it not been for the play of the entire team, according to Kaufman. Senior Brad Smith, who entered the championship as the nation's 62nd best golfer according to Golfweek.com, rebounded from a difficult second round (75) and collected a career-low round of six-under par 66 to finish in second overall with a seven-under par 209 (68-75-66).

Along with his best single-round at UAB, Smith also recorded his second best 54-hole mark and second-best career finish. His 66 tied Sucher's second round score for the low round of the 2008 tournament.

Perhaps the most significant score Tuesday's final 18 holes came from senior Kyle Sapp. After opening the championship with rounds of 78 and 76, Sapp rebounded to record a two-under par 70, and finished tied for 32nd overall with an eight-over par 224.

Sophomore Adam West carded his third consecutive round of two-over par 74 to finished tied for 26th with a 222 (74-74-74), while junior Mike Oimoen rounded our UAB in 35th with a 225 (73-76-76).

SMU, who entered the event ranked No. 49 in the nation, finished fourth with a nine-over par 873 (295-286-292), while 2007 C-USA Champions Tulsa finished fifth overall with a 12-over par 876 (291-297-288).

"I felt that at the beginning of this year, that this team is the most talented team I have ever had at UAB," Kaufman said. "To win any tournament takes a certain amount of good fortune and is a total team effort. We have an awfully good golf team and this gives us a lot of momentum heading into NCAA Regionals."

The Blazers will now wait to see which NCAA Regional they will compete in. The three Regionals are taking place in Chattanooga, Tenn. (NCAA East Regional), Columbus, Ohio (NCAA Central Regional) and Bremerton, Washington (NCAA West Regional) on May 15-17.