After the first two tournaments of the year, senior J.D. Tomlinson has gotten off to a decent start in his final season.
It got even better for him as he fired his best round of the year, shooting a 4-under, 68 in the first round of the Tavistock Collegiate Invitational in Orlando at the Lake Nona Golf & Country Club.
Tomlinson was consistent throughout the first round, with only one bogey on the day. Tomlinson had three birdies and one eagle, which came on the par-5 ninth hole. His performance put him in a tie for eighth place after one day of play.
Fellow senior Thomas Stewart completed the first round at 1-under-par after shooting a 71. Stewart sits in a tie for 36th place after having three birdies and two bogeys after the first 18 holes of play.
Coach J.C. Deacon was pleased with the team’s performance in the first round.
“I was really pretty happy,” Deacon said in a release. “Obviously, our two seniors, J.D. (Tomlinson) and Thomas (Stewart) stepped up. We got two huge under-par rounds out of both of them.”
Overall, the Gators sit in a three way tie for ninth place with UCF and Southeastern Conference rival, Georgia after a 1-under-par performance.
No. 10 Texas Tech paces the field after shooting 21-under-par in the first round. The Red Raiders hold a three-shot lead over No. 6 Florida State. No. 15 Vanderbilt is in third place at 17-under-par.
The No. 1 team in the country, Illinois is sitting in fourth place after finishing the first round at 12-under-par.
Senior Eric Banks shot a 1-over, 73 in the first round. Banks had two birdies and three bogeys, while junior A.J. Crouch shot 3-over-par. Crouch is in for 62nd place after the first round.
Freshman Ryan Celano, who is coming off winning his second consecutive team qualifying, also finished his first round at 3-over-par. Celano had a nightmare front nine, as he had two double bogeys, three bogeys and one birdie to finish at 6-over-par. He was able to bounce back on the last nine holes, as he had one bogey and four birdies.
“That showed a lot of toughness,” Deacon said. “I was proud of him for that and I expect a great tournament out of him the next few days.”
As play continues today in Orlando, Deacon wants the team to learn from their mistakes in the first round.
“I want us to keep playing solid and for the guys to keep doing the same thing,” he said. “I think all of them had some bright spots today, and if we could grow on those, we’ll be good. I was proud of them.”
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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.
