For Florida, the 2012-2013 season came to a close quite unceremoniously in Woodstock Ga. as the Gators finished with a team total of 857 (+17) to finish 25th at the NCAA Championships on Thursday.
The third round produced an identical result on the leaderboard as the second did with Florida posting a 283 (+3). While Rounds 2 and 3 weren’t good, Florida never had a chance in the NCAA Championships thanks to a poor first round score of 291 (+11). UF was unable to recover from the low score due to average play over the course of the rest of the tournament.
Both Tyler McCumber and T.J. Vogel ended their careers on a sour note, tying for 69th on the individual leaderboard with scores of 214 (+4) in three rounds play. Sophomore Eric Banks also shot 214.
Banks led Florida in scoring during an individual round for the second time in the tournament with a final round 69 (-1), and his return will give Florida a good foundation to build off of as they try to replace key contributors in Vogel and McCumber.
Senior Tommy Mou – inserted into the lineup to provide stability on the back end – hovered at 75 for the first two days and shot his tournament low of 71 (+1) on Thursday in his last round as a Gator.
Also returning next year is sophomore J.D. Tomlinson, who battled a toe injury all week and struggled on the final day with five bogeys. Tomlinson shot 73 (+3).
“We actually got off to a great start this morning,” said coach Buddy Alexander. “There is a tough stretch of holes, the 15th through the 18th.
I knew if we got by that then maybe we could have a special day, but those holes just ate us alive. The last nine was just so-so.”
Low rounds from Florida’s lineup were not enough to overcome its average play over the span of three days.
Florida’s play in the NCAA Championships was summed up in its entirety by Alexander’s reference to the last nine in Round 3. In the end, the Gators were just “so-so.”
Senior T.J. Vogel and the Gators finished 25th at the NCAA Championships in Woodstock, Ga.
