Florida’s final tournament of the fall has proven to be the toughest.
The Gators finished the first round of the Isleworth Collegiate Invitational in Windermere, Fla., tied for eighth after carding a 297 (+9) on the par-72, 7,544-yard course.
Thirteen strokes behind tournament-leader California, Florida faces an uphill climb over the course of the next two days. The invitational boasts eight teams ranked in the most recent Golf World/Nike Golf Coaches’ poll rankings, including the top three teams in No. 1 California, No. 2 Texas and No. 3 Alabama.
“When you have really good teams in the field, you have to play really well,” said coach Buddy Alexander. “We did not play really well today. We can do a little bit better.”
Seven strokes behind California’s Michael Kim for first place are Florida seniors T.J. Vogel and Tyler McCumber, who closed out the first round in 74 strokes (+2).
Vogel remained balanced until the final three holes.
Although he birdied hole 16, Vogel shot bogeys on holes 17 and 18.
Vogel placed eighth in last season’s Isleworth Invitational in Orlando, Fla.
Following suit was McCumber, who remained even par for majority of the front nine before bogeys on holes 9 and 15 put him two strokes over par.
Vogel and McCumber are tied for 22nd.
Sophomore J.D. Tomlinson matched the play of Vogel and McCumber, also notching a 74. The Gainesville native was even par through six holes, before bogeying and double-bogeying holes 7 and 9. But, from there, Tomlinson caught fire, birdying the 10th hole and shooting even par the rest of the way.
Senior Tommy Mou carded a 75 (+3) on Sunday. Mou is playing in his second consecutive tournament of the season following a unexpected hot start to last week’s Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate in Vestavia Hills, Ala.
At the Isleworth Invite, Mou dropped four strokes below par with five bogeys in his first seven holes. He responded on the back nine, turning in a birdie on hole 14 to bring him within three shots of par.
Rounding out the Gators’ lineup is freshman A.J. Crouch, who finished with a 78 (+6). Crouch turned in two double-bogeys and two birdies. He is currently tied for 58th.
Despite a sluggish showing, coach Alexander is confident his team can regain its footing in the second round.
“I think we will be fine,” Alexander said. “We will try to bounce back tomorrow.”
Florida will take the fairways Monday morning for the second round.
