Florida's men’s golf team returns for its first action of 2013 with hopes of continuing the strong start that it experienced in the fall.
The Gators play host for the SunTrust Gator Invitational on Feb. 8 and 9 at the Mark Bostic Golf Course. Competing this weekend are Southeastern Conference rivals Arkansas and Auburn, in-state rivals Florida State and UCF and non-conference opponents like Kennesaw State and Liberty.
Coach Buddy Alexander, in the midst of his 26th season at Florida, has plenty of options to work with. The Gators are coming off a win at The Invitational at The Ocean Course on Sept. 11.
“We’ve got a nice team,” Alexander said. “It’s a senior led group with T.J. Vogel and Tyler McCumber … those kids want to do some special things at the end of this year, and I think we’ve got a chance to do that.”
Both Vogel and McCumber were named to the Ben Hogan Watch List, which highlights the top players in the nation, after leading the Gators through a successful fall season.
McCumber is team captain and is ranked 19th in the nation by Golfweek.com. Vogel finished in the top ten in all four tournaments he appeared in last fall and is ranked 11th.
However, the Gators are going to have some obstacles to face at the beginning of this season. Sophomore Eric Banks, the number four starter on the team, had open heart surgery last summer and his return for this season is currently uncertain. Vogel is battling a hernia, which forced him to have surgery in December that he is still recovering from.
Freshman A.J. Crouch may also be limited as he has been dealing with a case of mono for an extended period of time. McCumber is also dealing with the affects of the flu, which came to the attention of Alexander over the weekend.
“Next man up, next man in,” Alexander said. “We’ll do what we can. We’ll field a competitive team for the Gators. I hope we’ll get Tyler back. T.J. is about 80 percent. I don’t know whether A.J. will be playing this weekend or not, probably not. … It’s early in the year, hopefully we’ll be ready for our tournament and ultimately really ready for the end of the year. “
Fortunately for the Gators, they open up the spring season at home.
The Mark Bostick Golf Course (6,701 yards, par of 70) has been the Gators training grounds since 1962 and has been on campus for over 80 years, something that will aide senior players like Vogel and McCumber who have the most experience on the course.
“We only play one home tournament event so anytime you play at home it’s nice,” Alexander said. “We have an advantage this time of year, in that we have better weather than most. … It’s nice to start at home because you feel like you do have some advantages, and you just feel like you’re going to have a good event.”
Despite not being 100 percent, the Gators are expected to take the championship on their home course. A strong showing in a situation like this would be a huge boost for a team trying to carry over momentum from last fall.
Alexander expects that his team will be ready to go come Saturday.
“Our guys are excited about this year,” Alexander said. “They should feel some momentum and some confidence going into this semester, but we’ve got to get healthy and we’ve got to put up the good numbers.”
