Ryan Orr strutted onto the first tee at Mark Bostick Golf Course with his golf bag on his shoulder and stared down the first fairway.
The 6-4 senior stood out in front of the Gator clubhouse in a white polo and blue shorts as he prepared to complete his final home tournament in Gator colors. The Belleair, Florida, native came into his senior year with zero individual tournament wins as a member of the University of Florida golf team. At Sea Best, Orr was able to capture that elusive title with a one-stroke win over teammate Alejandro Tosti.
“To finally get a win was amazing. I knew I was good enough to win, I just had to do it. Coming away from that tournament has given me a lot of confidence.”
Orr also said the victory was a confidence builder moving later into the season. And his confidence hasn’t faded since the key win.
“I feel great… I’m very happy (coach J.C. Deacon) put me back into the lineup. I feel like I should be there and I know how much I can help this team out and get us to where we need to be.”
Today, the Gators will tee-off at the Forest Heights Country Club golf course for the Schenkel Invitational in Statesboro, Georgia. The tournament features seven teams ranked in the top fifty, including top-ranked Vanderbilt. Florida has Sam Horsfield, Andy Zhang, Gordon Neale, Orr, and Ryan Celano in the lineup for the invitational.
Orr will take part in his fifth tournament of the year. Despite some major feats and shakeups in the lineup over the past couple of weeks, Orr, the lone senior on the team said the last two years have been very similar. He says the team has really come together, more like a closely-knit family. “We’ll do anything for each other. If we see each other on the golf course, we’ll wave and high-five and everything, and just trying to keep each other positive and motivated to just play as hard as we can so we can have a better result as a group.”
Even though Orr got his first win as a Gator, he’s after much more in his final season.
“…obviously, I wanted to get a win, which I did. And that’s great, but I want to get more. And what I want the most is to get this team to play to the ability that we can. And I know that myself playing at the level that I can play at, playing to my full ability will help us get closer to an SEC ring or a national championship.”
Deacon, now in his third year as UF’s head coach, is looking forward to this tournament and says that it’s a different course from the ones they’ve been playing at over the past couple of weeks. “We all need to relax a bit and just let it happen. I’m excited to get at it and not think too much about what’s been going on and get these guys playing golf again and see if we can’t get in contention and get back in the winner’s circle.”
The Gators will look to take home their fourth Schenkel Invitational title in their 32nd appearance at the tournament. Every player in the lineup has competed in at least four tournaments this season.
Contact Justin Ahlum at jahlum@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @justinn_case1.
UF's Ryan Orr putts during the SunTrust Gator Invitational on Feb. 18, 2017, at the Mark Bostic Golf Course.
