As Florida’s T.J. Vogel finished up the front nine of
his first round at even par, he stepped up onto the 10th tee box
with honors. The junior teed up and crushed the ball landing just
left of the fairway; he would go onto birdie that hole.
The next hole, a 145 yard par 3, Vogel got up again
on the tee box, addressed the ball and hit a perfect shot for an
ace.
The Gators may have entered the SunTrust Gator
Invitational as underdogs, but they were quick to show their talent
finishing the first round on top. Vogel also started the second
round in first place after posting a 66 (-4) round which consisted
of an eagle, three birdies and only one bogey.
In the second round, Florida went on to shoot a 287
putting them (+5) for the day. This caused them to drop to second
place and allowed No. 2 Auburn to move up to first after shooting
281 (+1) round.
Vogel also dropped a spot after finishing the second
round with a 71 (+1) putting him five strokes behind Auburn’s
Dominic Bozzelli.
“We had a solid morning and an ok afternoon
considering the conditions,” said head coach Buddy Alexander.
Newest Gator, Zach Lee, also had an impressive first
round shooting a 68 (-2). He wrapped up the day with an average
round of 74 (+4) round allowing him to end the day tied for
11th.
Freshman Thomas Stewart, who is competing as an
individual, also shot an under par 69 (-1) for his first collegiate
round. However, he struggled in the next round where he shot 80
(+10).
Junior Tyler McCumber’s first day was a huge
improvement from his last tournament. He shot a 71 (+1) both
rounds, each of which consisted of three birdies and four bogeys
putting him at tied for 11th for the day.
Senior Michael Furci also had two consistent rounds
by shooting 73 (+3) in both. He will start the second day tied for
23.
Freshman Eric Banks and junior Tommy Mou, who is
entered in the tournament as an individual like Stewart, both had a
tough day shooting 150 (+10) for the first two rounds.
“At the end of the day, when you’re in the hunt going
into the final day you have to look at it as a positive,” Alexander
said. “I don’t feel that we played our best today so hopefully we
can put a few good rounds together tomorrow and see what
happens.”
