J.C. Deacon’s first fall season as the coach of the Florida men’s golf team started off on the wrong foot. But with their backs against the wall, the Gators showed resilience and was able to grow as the year went along.
Deacon saw his team go from "mediocre" during their first tournament of the season, to being much improved, finishing in second place twice during the fall.
During the first round of the Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic, the team completed at 24-over-par, which was a staggering 31 shots behind the first place team in the field.
The horrendous start to the first tournament of the season served as a learning experience for the team and a wakeup call.
"That first round we had where we were so far behind the whole field and it was really a disaster, was the best thing that could ever happen to us," Deacon said.
"It woke everyone up, it woke me up, and it’s kind of hard to sleep in and be lazy and skip stuff when you’re that bad as we were."
After their 13th-place finish in their first tournament, the Gators got back to work immediately to improve their games. The team made strides in the following tournament as they collected a second place finish at the Wolf Run Intercollegiate.
Deacon said the squad changed their approach and mindset preparing for competitive play.
"All of us worked really hard, pushed things, looked at things in different ways, started practicing differently and we made a huge jump," Deacon said.
Players like freshman Ryan Celano stepped up for the Gators and made an immediate impact. Senior J.D. Tomlinson was able to continue his run of success as a member of the team. Deacon said everyone on the team contributed throughout the fall in some way.
With the improvement of the team, comes improvement from the coach. Deacon has had the opportunity to talk to a lot of successful coaches at the University of Florida and pick their brains.
"I’ve learned so much, it’s amazing when your word means so much and it is a great responsibility," Deacon said.
"I’ve really learned a lot from being around these other coaches, Becky and the women’s soccer team, I’ve learned a lot from her. Billy Donovan has had some great advice, just so many great people around here that are available to me now and I’m trying to take advantage of that."
With three months off until the team goes back into competition at the Sea Best Invitational in February, Deacon said he wants to keep motivating the guys and matching their effort.
"Just staying on the guys…just trying to match their work ethic and as long as I bring it every day I know they are going to bring it with me," he said.
Follow Luis Torres on Twitter @LFTorresIII
