Coach Buddy Alexander has been displeased with his team’s inability to improve in tournament play throughout the season.
The Gators have two tournaments left in the regular season to impress their coach and save their pride, starting with UF’s performance at the two-day Valspar Invitational in Palm City today.
“A big-time tournament, big-time course and a big-time field,” Alexander said in a release. “It’s another opportunity for us to step up and show some improvement.”
The tournament is held at the par-72 Floridian Golf Course, which sits near the St. Lucie River. It went through a seven-month renovation in 2011 and has become one of the best and most scenic courses in the United States, featuring the area’s preserves and wetlands.
It will definitely be a change of scenery for the Gators, who have not played in Florida since they competed at the USF Invitational in Dade City on March 4.
Florida will also face a challenge in terms of the field, which is arguably one of the toughest ones it has competed against. Out of the 15 teams competing, four (No. 3 Oklahoma State, No. 4 Georgia Tech, No. 8 Houston and No. 9 Illinois) are ranked in the top 10 and four more are in the top 25 (No. 12 FSU, No. 16 UCLA, No. 19 Arkansas and No. 21 Texas A&M).
For the five-man lineup, Alexander is sending out Eric Banks, J.D. Tomlinson, Ryan Orr, Richard Donegan and Conor Richardson. The Florida coach will not play an individual in the tournament.
Banks, Tomlinson and Orr, who are regulars in the Florida lineup, are coming off career-best performances at the USF Invitational. Tomlinson shot a 64 (-8) at the tournament — the lowest round he’s ever played. His performance there contributed to his team-low stroke average of 72.88.
Banks tied a career-low round of 68 (-4) at the USF Invitational and also finished inside the top 20 at the Chris Schenkel Invitational last week. Orr totaled a personal-best score of 217 (+1) in Dade City after shooting two rounds under par.
This will mark Donegan’s fifth consecutive tournament appearance and Richardson’s third showing of the season. Donegan’s best performance was at the Sea Best Invitational in February, where he shot 228 and tied for 24th place. Richardson last played at the SunTrust Gator Invitational in February.
Florida will begin competition Monday with a 9 a.m. shotgun start. The field will play 36 holes Monday and 18 holes on Tuesday.
Follow Layne Weitzel on Twitter @laynejweitzel
