May 16, 2008

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ----- UAB junior Zach Sucher birdied seven of his last nine holes as he scorched the Council Fire Golf Club course with a final nine score of 28 en route to a new school and course record nine-under par 62 during Friday's second round of the 2008 NCAA East Regional.

As a result, the Blazers, who finished their second round with a 10-under par, vaulted into the top 10 with a two-round total of seven-under par 561 (287-274). The top 10 teams from this regional will advance to the NCAA National Championship, scheduled for May 28-31 at the Birck Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Ind.

The tournament will conclude Saturday with the third and final round.

Sucher's score also was the second-best score ever recorded for a single round at an NCAA Championship event. Sucher tied Stanford's Notah Begay (1994) for the second-best round. Duke's Michael Schachner broke the record last year with a third-round 60 at the NCAA Championship at Williamsburg, Va.

Sucher, who currently holds a two-shot lead over Georgia's Hudson Swafford with some teams still on the course Friday afternoon, finished the front nine at two-under par following his only bogey of the day on the par 4 ninth hole.

Following that hole, the Mobile, Ala. native turned his game up a notch. He began the back nine by recording five consecutive birdies. Following a par on the 15th hole, Sucher reeled off two more birdies before ending his round with a par on the 499-yard par-4 18th hole.

Not only did Sucher record the best round of his career, but his 62 also tied the single-round school record (set by Garrett Osborn at the 2005 Jerry Pate Intercollegiate). He also matched the course record in a competitive tournament, set by PGA pro Ed Dougherty who shot a 62 during the second round of the 1992 Chattanooga Classic.

"Obviously, I felt really good out there," Sucher said. "I kept telling myself to keep it going. I had no idea about any records or anything like that, but I knew I was playing really well. My irons were terrific today and I felt like I could hit the ball wherever I wanted to."

UAB head coach Alan Kaufman was pleased that his team stepped up its play from Thursday's first round.

"This is exactly the type of round we needed as a team," UAB head coach Alan Kaufman said. "Zach was simply unbelievable. As a team, I thought we were solid from top to bottom and it certainly helps you when you have a player who is capable of posting low numbers like Zach can. We have put ourselves in terrific shape, but there is still a lot of golf left to be played."

Check back with UABsports.com to find out Friday's final results, as well as Saturday tee times.