Depending on which route you take, the trip from Mark Bostick Golf Course to Old Waverly Golf Club in east Mississippi is about 560 miles. This is the longest journey the Gators have taken this spring, but this particular course has been good to them.
“Old Waverly is an excellent course,” coach Buddy Alexander said in a release. “We won the SEC here in 1991, and I haven't been back, but I remember it as a great test of golf and obviously have fond memories.”
Florida is set to play in its last regular season tournament, the Old Waverly Collegiate Championship, starting today. The two-day tournament, hosted by Mississippi State, will be held on the par-72 course in West Point, Miss.
When the Gators last played on this course and won a Southeastern Conference title, it led to three more consecutive conference championships from 1992 to 1994. UF is hoping that good history will wear off on them throughout this tournament.
The five-man lineup, made up of J.D. Tomlinson, Eric Banks, Ryan Orr, Richard Donegan and Victor Tarnstrom, features the Florida golfers with the best scoring averages on the team.
Tomlinson is coming off one of his best finishes of the season, a tie for sixth place at the Valspar Invitational two weeks ago. He holds the best scoring average on the team with 72.52 strokes.
Banks shot 219 (+6) at the Valspar and tied a season-low round of 68. Donegan had his best tournament as a Gator, shooting a 210 (-3) and finishing in the top 10 for the first time this season.
Orr didn’t do as well, finishing the tournament with a 231 (+18), but will look to finish strong at Old Waverly. He has competed in every tournament for Florida this year.
This will mark Tarnstrom’s fourth spring tournament. His last showing was at the Chris Schenkel Invitational in mid-March, where he scored 234 (+18). Tarnstrom will also try to improve over the next two days.
The 15-team field looks a little different from the challenging one UF faced two weeks ago. According to Golf Week, no team is ranked inside the top 50 except for Memphis, which stands at No. 43. Florida is ranked 74th.
“It is a solid field, and there is no reason why we can't be very competitive this week,” Alexander said.
Competition begins today at 8:30 a.m. with a shotgun start. The field will play two rounds totaling 36 holes today and finish with 18 more holes on Tuesday.
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J.D. Tomlinson tees off on Day 2 of the SunTrust Gator Invitational on Feb. 16 at the Mark Bostick Golf Course. Tomlinson is in fourth place after Day 1 of the Valspar Invitational.
