PROVIDENCE, R.I. – For the second straight year, the UCF men’s golf team qualified for the NCAA Golf Championships, this time using three consecutive rounds under par to finish second in the 14-team field in the Kissimmee Regional. The Knights will be among the 30 teams competing at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla., May 25-30.
 
The appearance by UCF marks the fifth consecutive season a team from the American Athletic Conference qualified for the NCAA Championship.
 
Competing on the Watson Course on Reunion Resort, UCF posted a 10-under score of 278 in the third round, finishing the three days at 30-under par, the second-best score in program history.
 
UCF bested seven of the eight ranked teams in the regional, finishing only behind No. 8 Florida, which took the team title at 42-under par. Four of the five Knights who competed finished in the top 12 individually, as junior Kyler Tate paced the Knights with a third-place finish. Tate spent most of the last two rounds in the top three of the field, finishing with a 2-under 70 on Tuesday to come in at 10-under par for the tournament.
 
Throughout the tournament, three Knights possessed first place individually, and all but one finished under par in the 54-hole total. In UCF's 15 rounds, 12 rounds were completed shooting par or better.
 
Manuel Elvira sank seven birdies on Tuesday, matching his season-best round with a 68. The senior shot a season-low 7-under par, playing all three rounds under par. Elvira and teammate Juuso Kahlos both finished in a tie for ninth, with Kahlos’ 2-under 70 bringing him into the clubhouse at 7-under.
 
Bobby Bai rounded out the NCAA Regional Championship tied for 12^th after recording five birdies en route to a round of 70. Bai, who was tied with Kahlos atop the leaderboard after the first round, finished his regional at 6-under par (210).
 
As a team, the Knights were second in total birdies with 63 during the three rounds and collected 168 total pars. UCF played Reunion’s par 5 holes at 27-under par; the total was among the top three in the field, as was the Knights’ 1-under performance on the par 4 holes.
 
Heading to the National Championship and joining UCF from the Kissimmee Regional will be No. 8 Florida, No. 5 Vanderbilt, No. 17 North Carolina and No. 29 Kent State.
 
No. 20 USF, which entered final day of the Kissimmee Regional in fourth place, dropped to eighth in the third round, bringing a historic 2017-18 season to a close. The fourth-seeded Bulls carded a 1-over 289 to finish the tournament at 12-under.
 
In a season in which the Bulls obtained the program’s sixth consecutive trip to the NCAA regionals, USF captured the American Athletic Conference Championship crown in wire-to-wire fashion for the fourth consecutive season. USF also matched the program's season record of five tournament title victories set by head coach Steve Bradley's 2014-15 team.
 
Senior Claudio Correa ended his fourth straight NCAA Regional run with the Bulls in a tie for 14^th place at 4-under. The Santiago, Chile native and conference player of the year collected three par-or-better rounds at the regional, finishing with a 1-under 71 on Wednesday.
 
Cristian DiMarco tied for 26^th at 2-under after carding a 70 in the first two rounds of the tournament. The Longwood, Fla.-native competed in NCAA Regionals in all three of his seasons with the Bulls.
 
Senior Jimmy Jones led the Bulls in the final round with a 2-under 70 and tied for 23^rd at 3-under overall.
 
Two American student-athletes competing as individuals in regional competition wrapped up their seasons on Wednesday.
 
At the Bryan Regional, Houston senior Michael Perras posted a 73 in the final round and closed out his collegiate career with a 24^th-place finish at Traditions Club on Wednesday afternoon.
 
Perras, who was one of 10 individuals competing at the regional, finished with a three-day, 54-hole score of 2-over par 218. Perras battled through six pars and a pair of bogeys through his first eight holes before draining a birdie on the par-4 ninth hole. Following a bogey on No. 10 and consecutive pars, Perras drained another birdie on the 407-yard 14th hole and rallied from a bogey on No. 16 with a birdie on the par-4 17th hole.
 
This marked the third straight season in which Perras competed in NCAA Regional play. He became only the 17^th player in Houston program history to compete in 3 or more NCAA Regionals during his career.
 
The Deer Park, Texas, native ended his career among the Cougars’ top-10 career leaders in strokes (10,675), stroke average (72.13) and rounds (148).
 
At the Norman Regional, SMU freshman McClure Meissner finished tied for 21^st overall after carding a three-day score at even par 216.
 
In the third and final round, the San Antonio, Texas-native posted an even-par 72, posting matching 36s going out and coming in. The freshman posted three birdies on the front and two on the back.
 
Meissner, who entered the event as the No. 9-ranked freshman in the country by GolfStat, finished the season with seven top-25 finishes. The freshman logged three top-10 finishes, highlighted by a fifth-place finish at the American Athletic Conference Tournament and a sixth-place finish at the inaugural Trinity Forest Invitational.