It was a rough start for Santiago Gavino on Sunday. The redshirt sophomore started off his first tournament as a Gator by bogeying three of his first four holes.
But that didn’t stop Gavino from coming back to finish even, and tying with his teammates Tyler McCumber and J.D. Tomlinson for second place after the first day of The Invitational at The Ocean Course.
“I am extremely proud of Santiago Gavino after starting three-over after the first four holes and coming back the way he did,” coach Buddy Alexander said. “We had a solid performance by our guys.”
After having three straight bogeys, Gavino was able to put together back-to-back birdies in his front nine, and then added two more against one bogey on his back nine.
McCumber had the strongest start for the Gators with back-to-back birdies in his first two holes. However, the senior soon found himself over after carding a bogey and double bogey in the next three holes.
But like Gavino, McCumber battled back to finish the day with a round of 72 (E).
Close behind Gavino, McCumber and Tomlinson is senior T.J. Vogel who finished the first round with a score of 73 (+1), putting him in a nine-way tie for fifth place.
In addition to having four players in the top-five, the Gators are currently in first place as a team, with a first round total of 288 (+1). This puts Florida four strokes ahead of second place Houston as they start their second round.
“The team got off to a good start to the season,” Alexander said. “There is still a lot of golf left to play though.”
On the women’s side, both senior Isabelle Lendl and sophomore Camilla Hedberg found themselves under par after the first round of the Cougar classic.
“I’m very proud of the way Isabelle and Camilla played,” coach Emily Bastel said. “They have been working hard and it’s great to see their hard work pay off for them.
Lendl had a solid front nine with on birdie against one bogey, but it was her back nine that put her at the top of the leaderboard. On the back, Lendl carded three birdies and an eagle to help her finish the first round with a score of 67 (-5) putting her in a two-way tie for first place.
Hedberg followed close behind. She had two birdies against one bogey on the front and then wrapped up the first round with two birdies on the back for a round of 69 (-3).
The sophomore will start the second round tied for third.
As a team, Florida is currently in a three-way tie for second place and only one shot behind leader USC.
“The girls did a good job of staying patient,” Bastel said. “Tomorrow our goal is to be a bit more decisive, but to keep with the strategy of fairways and greens.”
Contact Katie Agostin at kagostin@alligator.org.
