The
Gators men’s golf team had as many as five teams lurking as
Friday’s second round of the NCAA Regionals began. But at the end
of the day, it was a somewhat unlikely team snagging the top-spot
on the leaderboard from Florida.
Defending national champions Augusta State sat in a tie for eighth
after round one, eight shots behind UF at 2-over-par. But after
shooting a crazy-low 13-under 275 Friday, Augusta State jumped to
first, holding a four-shot lead over second-place Florida going
into Saturday’s final round at the Golden Ocala Golf Club.
“I
think the course has been pretty easy because the weather
conditions have been so perfect,” coach Buddy Alexander said.
“That’s great and fun to play in, but it really doesn’t separate
the field much. …We’re going to have to make more birdies and get
off to a better start than we did today.”
Despite senior Andres Echavarria’s 2-under 34 on the front nine,
the Gators were 5-over as a team at the turn. They were 3-under
after nine holes on Thursday.
Echavarria had five birdies, carding a 4-under 68 to climb all the
way to seventh in the individual standings. Senior Bank Vongvanij
recovered from two bogeys on the front, shooting wo birdies on the
back to finish at even-par. Vongvanij is tied for tenth at
4-under.
After bogeying the par-4 first, junior Phillip Choi rattled off two
birdies and an eagle at the par-5 12th, but he also sprinkled in
four bogeys to shoot a 1-over 73.
Tommy Mou shot a 40 on the front, but made up for it with a 2-under
34 on the back. The back-nine resurgence from Mou and Vongvanij
likely kept Florida within striking distance of winning the
regional.
“We
got off to a rough start and to be honest, there is a little sense
of relief that the field didn’t run away from us today, because we
really played poorly on the front nine,” Alexander said.
Women’s Golf
Friday’s second round of the NCAA Championships in Bryan, Texas
were delayed due to lightning before Florida’s women’s golf team
had completed its first nine holes. But a rough start for the
Gators got progressively worse when play finally resumed more than
three hours later.
UF
entered the day 16-over-par, but despite three players still on the
course when play was suspended due to darkness, the Gators had
already doubled their total to 32-over.
"It
was a very challenging day with the wind and with the lightning
delay," coach Jan Dowling said. "We handled it decently. We
definitely have a good chance for a great finish tomorrow. The name
of the game for this tournament in particular with the conditions
and the way the golf course is set up, is just handling adversity
really well."
Junior Andrea Watts was the only Gator seemingly not deterred by
the layover as she parred the first seven holes on her back nine
after the delay. She has the low score for UF at 2-over, but the
junior must finish playing holes 17 and 18 in the morning.
Sophomore Mia Piccio bogeyed three holes after the break and sits
at 3-over with three holes left in her round. Junior Evan Jensen is
4-over but must play the par-4 ninth hole to finish her round.
Isabelle Lendl shot a 7-over 79, and senior Jessica Yadloczky shot
a pair of 40’s for an 8-over 80.
Florida is currently in a tie for eighth and trails first place
UCLA by 19 shots. Six teams were still on the course when play was
suspended.
UF Communications contributed to this report.
