The 2012-13 campaign yielded positive results for Florida, but it ended with a disappointing final act on May 30. The Gators placed 25th at the NCAA championships in Woodstock, Ga.
UF started its fall season on a positive note, looking dominant with a win in its first tournament and finishing second in the next two tournaments.
“It was a great way to start the year,” coach Buddy Alexander said in a release following the season-opening victory at The Invitational at The Ocean Course in Kiawah Island, S.C.
At that tournament, the Gators dominated the field and won by a 24-stroke margin, scoring 882 (+18).
After back-to-back second-place finishes, Florida finished its fall season with a sixth-place effort at the Isleworth Collegiate Invitational in Windermere. While the finish looked bad on the leaderboard, UF’s play in the tournament was consistent with its early play, scoring 886 (+18), 12 strokes off its fall average of 874.
But Florida could not to play to the level of a more competitive field, which featured powers such as California, 2012 national champion Texas, 2013 national finalist Illinois and eventual 2013 national champion, Alabama.
In the spring, the Gators made a habit of finishing fourth, doing so in four out of five tournaments, including the SunTrust Gator Invitational, a tournament Florida hosted at the Mark Bostick Golf Course. The Gators’ worst effort of the spring season came in the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters in Las Vegas, where they finished eighth.
Florida’s postseason began on a disastrous note with a 10th-place finish in the Southeastern Conference Championships.
“Other than Tyler [McCumber], there were not many positives,” Alexander said. “We need to take a look in the mirror. Right now, we have to restore some confidence and get back on right the path.”
Florida shot 40 strokes over par as a team, and the Gators could not build any momentum toward the NCAA Regionals a month later.
Florida also failed to claim a second conference championship in three years. Instead, the team found itself last on the leaderboard after the first day of competition, and the results didn’t get much better in the subsequent round. UF finished the third round with a score of 290, tied for the best score of the round.
With a month to stew on the disappointment of the SECs, Florida performed well at the NCAA South Regional in Baton Rouge and finished second behind only Alabama. By finishing in the top 5, Florida secured a spot in the NCAA Championships.
“What happened at the SEC’s was a fluke, we’ve never played that bad and it’s not going to happen again,” senior T.J. Vogel said.
But Florida’s performance in Baton Rouge did not translate to the NCAA Championships. UF fell short of the eighth-place cutoff for the match-play portion of the tournament, ending the season with little fanfare.
