It marked the best finish for the Knights since they took 10th place in 2009.

“This is a big accomplishment,” head coach Bryce Wallor said. “We came in here and played well with a lot of very, very good teams to make that 54-hole cut. I’m really proud of my guys.”

Extremely windy conditions made play difficult for virtually everyone on the course Monday. That included Knight sophomore Kyler Tate, who was tied for fourth place entering Monday’s final round. But he struggled in the tough conditions and dropped back to finish tied for 23rd at 1-over par for the tournament.

Freshman Bobby Bai was +5 for the four rounds and finished in a tie for 39th. Juniors Manuel Elvira and Juuso Kahlos each wrapped up play in a tie for 72nd place at 13-over. Senior Ryan Stovash was 83rd at +25 in his final collegiate event.

With just one senior on a team that advanced to the final day of stroke play at the NCAA Championship, Wallor said his team’s performance should be a springboard into next season.

“We lose one senior in Ryan Stovash, who has played a lot of golf for us,” Wallor said. “Having said that, we’ve got a great player at home in Donnie Trosper and some good freshman recruits coming in. I’m really excited for our future.”

Golf was first played at the Olympic Games in Paris in 1900, only to be removed after 1904. It was voted back in seven years ago by the International Olympic Committee, setting in motion Gouveia’s road to Rio, where he will represent his home country of Portugal.

“It feels great,” Gouveia told UCFKnights.com. “It’s one of those sporting events that you dream to be a part of at least once in your life. It’s going to be special being in Rio where the native language is Portuguese.”

Gouveia is one of three UCF alumni who will compete in the Olympics this year. He and Aline Reis ‘11 (Brazil, soccer) are making their first Olympic Games appearances, while 2008 gold medalist Phil Dalhausser ’02 (USA, beach volleyball) is set for his third and potentially final appearance.

Gouveia was a two-time all-region and All-America honorable-mention honoree as a Knight in 2011-14. He turned pro after graduating with a degree in interdisciplinary studies with a business administration minor.

“The whole experience that I had at UCF was crucial to reach the level of play and the stability that I have right now,” he told UCFKnights.com. “I learned so much from a lot of people while attending school. I can’t thank them enough.”

Gouveia competed in his first PGA event this year when he was invited to join the field at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando.

He is ranked 34th in the field of 60. Gouveia will play Aug. 11-14 on the Olympic Golf Course. The Games begin Friday and last until Aug. 21.

To follow Gouveia on Twitter, click .

“There was no doubt in my mind that Greg Eason had earned the right to be the American Men’s Golf Player of the Year in 2014,” UCF head coach Bryce Wallor said. “For me it has not been the on-the-course accomplishments that have been so impressive, but the intensity and frequency of which he practices and prepares. Greg Eason has come to practice and qualifying every day with a goal of getting better and winning each day he steps on the course. This is a goal that is often talked about by many players but one that is rarely executed.”

Eason was also named to The American’s all-conference team. He was joined on the all-conference team by fellow senior Ricardo Gouveia.

“I am very pleased that Greg Eason and Ricardo Gouveia were named to the AAC All-Conference Team,” Wallor said. “These two seniors have worked very hard for the success of our program during their careers at UCF. It is an honor to have had the opportunity to coach two very talented and dedicated young men and to call Greg and Ricardo my friends.”

Eason leads the Knights with a 70.1 stroke average for the season. Of his 30 rounds this season, he has scored par or better in 22. He has finished in the Top 10 in nine of 10 events in 2013-14 and was in the Top 20 in every tournament. He also has two individual victories, winning the John Hayt Invitational back in February and taking medalist honors at the 3M Augusta Invitational in early April.

For Eason, the American Athletic Conference awards come on the heels of his selection as Conference USA Player of the Year and First-Team All-CUSA in 2013. Eason was a PING First-Team All-America selection and All-Southeast Region honoree last season as well. As a sophomore, Eason was a Second-Team All-CUSA selection and an honorable mention PING All-America choice. He was the 2011 Conference USA Freshman of the Year and was also a Second-Team All-CUSA choice that season.

Gouveia ranks No. 2 on the Knights with a stroke average of 71. He has played 19 of his 30 rounds at par or better. Gouveia has turned in seven Top 10 performances and has finished in the Top 20 nine times in his 10 outings. He was the individual champion at the FAU Slomin Autism Invitational in late March.

Gouveia was a and All-America honorable mention honors in 2012. He was also the Conference USA Newcomer of the Year that season. Prior to joining the Knights, Gouveia was a PING Division II All-America player as a freshman at Lynn șŁœÇֱȄ.

Eason, Gouveia and the rest of the Knights are currently preparing for play at the NCAA San Antonio Regional. The regional tournament begins Thursday at the Briggs Ranch Golf Club. The top five squads in each of six regionals will advance to the NCAA Championship.

The Crimson Tide led virtually wire to wire and took the prestigious event’s team championship, but not without a battle from the No. 16 Knights. A little more than halfway through Tuesday’s third and final round, UCF was just three strokes back. While Alabama was able to push its lead back out to a more comfortable margin, the Knights still came away with their best-ever finish at their final event of the fall season.

Alabama put together a three-day total of 838 (-26) to take the victory and set a new tournament record for total team score. UCF took runner-up honors with a final tally of 850 (-14). California, the defending ICI champion, was the only other team to finish under par at 859 (-5).

“I think it shows the development and maturity of our program,” UCF head coach Bryce Wallor said of his team’s finish. “We have a bunch of seniors on our golf team. We have guys that know how to play the golf course. So I think that led to us inevitably having a great golf tournament. Maybe any other year that score we put up wins, but this year we had to play a very good Alabama team.”

The Knights picked up victories over No. 4 California, No. 6 Illinois, No. 11 New Mexico, No. 15 Texas and No. 18 Arkansas. In addition to those squads, the Knights finished in front of a total of 13 other teams, 12 of which were ranked among the top 50 in the nation.

Alabama’s Trey Mullinax tied the individual tournament record with an 11-under total of 205 for the tournament. He tallied scores of 66, 68 and 71 to take the victory.

Meanwhile, UCF was paced by three top-10 finishers. Senior Kyle Wilshire put together rounds of 71, 71 and 70 for a 4-under 212. Freshman Ryan Stovash was just behind, tying for fifth. He carded rounds of 70, 71 and 72 to finish 3-under. Senior Greg Eason slipped from third place after the first two rounds to a tie for eighth. After scoring 68 and 69 in the first two rounds, the All-America performer struggled a bit on Tuesday finishing up with a 78 for a 215 (-1).

Senior Ricardo Gouveia opened with a 77, but followed with rounds of 70 and 71 to finish with a three-round score of 218 (+2) and in a tie for 18th. Junior transfer Linus Vaisanen rounded out the Knights’ lineup in a tie for 28th, firing scores of 73, 73 and 74 for a 4-over 220.

“We had a great tournament,” Stovash said. “A lot of guys played well and we beat a couple good teams and we finished second, which was awesome.”

The Knights are now off from competition until Feb. 15-16, when they will open the spring portion of their schedule at the Gator Invitational in Gainesville, Fla.

“You look at our fall and we started the season with two wins, a fifth and now a second in a very good golf tournament,” Wallor said. “It gives us something to build on. Obviously Alabama setting the bar pretty high gives us the notion that we need to improve. So we’ll look at the off-season as a chance to improve and see if we can be a little more competitive in the spring.”

Team Leaders

1. Alabama 280-272-286=838 (-26)
2. UCF 282-281-287=850 (-14)
3. California 284-286-289=859 (-5)

UCF Golfers

4. Kyle Wilshire 71-71-70=212 (-4)

T5. Ryan Stovash 70-71-72=213 (-3)

T8. Greg Eason 68-69-78=215 (-1)

T18. Ricardo Gouveia 77-70-71=218 (+2)

T28. Linus Vaisanen 73-73-74=220 (+4)

UCF put together a 283 (-5) on the final day of action at its season-opening event to finish with a total team score of 866 (+2). That was one stroke better than Virginia, which posted an 867 (+3) to take runner-up honors. UCF also vaulted over Houston, which led the first two rounds but finished third with a +5 score of 869. In all, the Knights bested 14 other squads.

Individually, Greg Eason made the biggest move for the Knights and helped lead the charge up the team leaderboard as well. Eason was tied for 47th with a 5-over 77 in the first round. The 2012-13 All-America performer’s first-round total didn’t even count in the Knights’ team score. But his Saturday and Sunday scores of 68 and 67, respectively helped the UCF final tally. They also vaulted him all the way into the runner-up position by the end of the event. His 212 (-4) final tally was just one stroke off the pace set by Roman Robiedo of Houston, who took medalist honors with a 211 (-5).

Ricardo Gouveia finished the tournament 1-under and in seventh place for UCF after putting up a +1 score of 73 in the final round. Kyle Wilshire rebounded in a big way in Sunday’s third round, posting a 70 (-2) after back-to-back rounds of 76. He finished tied for 22nd at 222 (+6). Meanwhile, freshman Ryan Stovash carded a 73 (+1) Sunday to finish at 223 (+7) and tied for 24th. Linus Vaisanen rounded out the team scoring for the Knights with a 76 (+4) on Sunday. He wrapped up play tied for 29th at 224 (+8).

Freshman Federico Zuchetti took part as an individual for UCF. He finished tied for 22nd. He put together a 1-under 71 on Sunday to finish the tournament at 222 (+6).

This is the second victory in the last three years for UCF at the Northern Intercollegiate. The Knights also took the team title in 2011.

UCF is back in action again Sept. 16-17 at the Adams Cup in Newport, R.I. The Knights have won that tournament in each of the past three years.

Team Leaders

1. UCF 290-293-283=866 (+2)
2. Virgina 289-291-287=867 (+3)
3. Houston 279-293-297=869 (+5)
4. Liberty 281-296-294=871 (+7)
5. Kentucky 286-303-294=883 (+19)

UCF Golfers

Eason defeated Michael Weaver of Fresno, Calif., who is a senior on the șŁœÇֱȄ of California squad and was runner-up at the 2012 U.S. Amateur. Eason took the match 3 & 2. He will advance to the Round of 32 and tee off at 8 a.m. Thursday morning. Thursday could potentially be a busy day for Eason, as the Round of 16 will be held that afternoon.

Gouveia went back and forth with his opponent, Brandon Hagy of Westlake Village, Calif., who also plays for Cal. After 18 rounds, Gouveia and Hagy were all square. But Hagy took the 19th hole to win the match and eliminate Gouveia, who had advanced to the quarterfinals of last year’s U.S. Amateur.

In the U.S. Amateur, two days of stroke play qualifying determine the 64 players who will advance to match play. From there, players are seeded according to their stroke play finish and the match-play bracket is determined.

The UCF men’s golf team opens its 2013-14 season Sept. 6-8 at the Northern Intercollegiate in Sugar Grove, Ill.

In addition to Eason’s victory, the Knights tied for second as a team to advance to the NCAA Championships for the second consecutive year and the sixth in program history. No. 39 UCF finished the tournament 13-under and tied for runner-up honors with No. 15 Georgia. No. 3 UCLA won the team title, finishing -30. No. 22 Texas A&M and Arizona State rounded out the top five teams, which will all advance to the NCAA Championships.

Eason was in second place after the first round after shooting a 5-under 65. He carded a 63 in the second round to take the lead and move to 12-under for the tournament. His Friday score was the best individual round of the entire regional. Saturday, Eason tallied an even-par 70 to bring home the four-stroke victory.

“I picked a lot of good targets and was lucky enough to hit the targets,” Eason said. “I putted really well out there. With no wind, the ball goes a long way out here. I was a little conservative today, but tried to be aggressive as well. I managed to hit a lot of good shots and holed a lot of putts on the first two days.”

UCF head coach Bryce Wallor said Eason had been working toward this result throughout the season.

“Greg has been building all spring,” Wallor said. “He just continues to play well. He had a great round of golf yesterday and a very steady day today.”

UCF’s Ricardo Gouveia was also at the top of the leaderboard. He was under par in each round of the tournament (68-66-68) and tied for runner-up honors with UCLA’s Gonathan Garrick.

With the team finishing in a tie for second, Eason and Gouveia weren’t the only Knights who played well. Kyle Wilshire tied for 30th and was +2 for the tournament after finishing strong at -2 Saturday. Jose Joia was tied for 41st and was 1-under in the third round to finish at +5 for the tournament.

“This was the first time for us this year that we really had four guys contribute,” Wallor said. “We’ve had three guys play well at times. But this week, we got four guys to step up and play well throughout the event. I think it helped with the chemistry. Once they started feeling good, good things happened.”

Eason said knowing the entire team was playing well helped him finish strong.

“Toward the end, I started to get a sense we were doing all right,” Eason said. “I found out we were doing pretty good on 17. It always helps knowing the guys are doing well, too. Everyone looked pretty good on the course. It did help.”

The Knights will now prepare for the NCAA Championship, which will be held May 28-June 2 in Atlanta, Ga.

NCAA Tempe Regional Championship

Team Leaders

UCF Golfers

The Knights compiled a 3.17 grade-point average for the spring term, the highest student-athlete GPA for a single semester in school history. In addition, UCF student-athletes compiled an average GPA of 3.14 for the 2012-13 academic year, which was also the best mark for the Knights.

“I’m extremely proud of the semester we have had academically and we continue to be strong in this area,” said Kimya Massey, UCF’s Associate Athletic Director for Academic Services and Director of Academic Services for Student-Athletes. “We knew it would be a good term overall, but to break records and continue to push the standard even higher is a credit to our student-athletes and their desire to be excellent in whatever they do. I must also complement the ASSA staff for their constant support and willingness to help our student-athletes achieve their goals.”

UCF student-athletes have now recorded an average GPA of 3.0 or better for 11 consecutive semesters. Twelve of the Knights’ 16 sports programs were at or above a 3.0 for the spring term. Individually, 227 Knights student-athletes recorded a spring term GPA of 3.0 or better. Of that number, 27 earned a perfect 4.0 and 61 were at 3.75 or above.

Knight student-athletes said the UCF academic support personnel and their coaches impress upon them the importance of academics.

“Each member of the Academic Services staff does their best to put the student-athlete first,” women’s tennis player Jenna Doerfler said. “I have had nothing but extremely positive experiences with anyone I have worked with on the staff. The staff has always gone out of their way to help the student-athletes who come to them. My coaches have always made the importance of academics clear to us. We have team academic goals at the beginning of each semester. The coaches and staff do a great job working together with us to make sure we’re on track.”

“I believe our fall GPA motivated us and our academic advisor Sarah Hill pushed us all to do even better,” said women’s basketball player Erika Jones. “Our coaches asked about our schoolwork as often as they could, so that was helpful and greatly appreciated.”

Seven of UCF’s athletic teams set program records for spring term GPAs. Football (2.95), men’s basketball (2.85), women’s basketball (3.14), men’s golf (3.43), men’s soccer (3.29), softball (3.42) and track and field (3.31) all recorded the best spring term GPA in their teams’ histories.

Men’s golf led all teams in the spring with a 3.43 GPA, while the top women’s team was softball at 3.42. The UCF volleyball program continued its department-best streak of semesters at 3.0 or above, achieving that mark for the 12th straight term. Men’s basketball and football added to the records, compiling the best academic year GPAs ever for the two programs.

“It’s really nice to be recognized,” Eason, who was also announced as a member of the All-C-USA First Team. “It’s a bit of hard work paying off and it is always great to be recognized for your achievements. The golf has been very good in the whole conference this year. It isn’t easy to even make the all-conference team, so it is a real honor and privilege to be named Golfer of the Year.”

Eason has a scoring average of 71.7 through 31 rounds of golf this season. He has recorded eight top-10 finishes in 11 events, including a first-place finish at the Jack Nicklaus Invitational and co-medalist honors at the Insperity Augusta State Invitational.

Eason, who is ranked No. 28 in the nation by Golfweek, was a four-time Conference USA Golfer of the Week in 2012-13. He becomes UCF’s second C-USA Golfer of the Year and its first since Blayne Barber earned the award in 2009. This marks Eason’s first time on the All-C-USA First Team. He was a second-team selection in each of his first two seasons with the Knights.

“As I’ve said numerous times this year, Greg Eason has earned every award he has received,” UCF head coach Bryce Wallor said. “In my entire career, I’ve never seen a young man work harder and try to get better day in and day out.”

The No. 39-ranked UCF men’s golf team is coming off a third-place finish at the Conference USA Championship. The NCAA will announce the field for the NCAA Regional Championships Monday and the Knights are expected to receive an at-large berth. It would be UCF’s seventh consecutive appearance in the NCAA Championships and its 17th overall.

Eason’s Golfer of the Year honor comes on the heels of numerous Conference USA individual honors for the Knights in 2012-13. Kemal Ishmael earned Football Defensive Player of the Year, Quincy McDuffie was named Football Special Teams Player of the Year, Marissa Diggs was named Women’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Year, Briahanna Jackson earned Women’s Basketball Freshman of the Year honors and Aurieyall Scott was named the Women’s Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

UCF’s GSR was 85 percent, up two points from last year’s report. The Knights rank No. 1 among public institutions in the State of Florida and second overall in the state. UCF’s GSR also ranks highest among public institutions in Conference USA and is tied for second overall in the league, behind Rice (95 percent).

UCF also compared well with institutions in the BIG EAST Conference, which the Knights will join on July 1, 2013. UCF would currently rank No. 2 in the BIG EAST among public institutions, behind only Rutgers (88 percent). Among all football-playing members of the BIG EAST, the Knights would tie for third, behind Rutgers and Syracuse (87 percent).

“Results like this come from the hard work of our student-athletes, combined with the culture of academic success that our coaches and academic support staff promote on a daily basis,” said Vice President and Director of Athletics Todd Stansbury. “We’re all very proud of what our student-athletes are accomplishing.”

The football program finished 13 points above the national average, with an 81-percent mark, compared to 68 percent nationally. It was the sixth consecutive year the football program improved its GSR. Football’s 81 percent was a program-best score. In football, UCF ranks No. 2 in C-USA and would rank No. 2 among BIG EAST public institutions.

Eleven of UCF’s 16 teams improved their GSR from the previous year’s report, while 11 of them were also above the national average for their sport. Three Knight squads – women’s tennis, softball and men’s golf – were at a perfect 100 percent. It was the seventh consecutive season for women’s tennis to record a 100-percent score. Men’s tennis recorded the biggest improvement among Knights programs, jumping 14 percentage points.

“Graduation is obviously the ultimate goal and this report shows that our student-athletes, coaches and academic advisors are doing a great job promoting academic achievement,” said Kimya Massey, Director of Academic Services for Student-Athletes. “I’m very proud to work with a group that is so dedicated to success in competition and in the classroom.”