After the best to-par round of the year on Saturday, the UF men’s golf team sat in seventh place at the Seminole Intercollegiate in Tallahassee.
After shooting 2-under-par on Sunday, seventh is where the Gators would finish.
The team’s 6-under-par performance over the weekend was led by the play of senior J.D. Tomlinson, recording his fifth top-10 finish of the season at 5-under-par for a share of ninth place.
Tomlinson has finished each of the last three tournaments inside the top 10.
“That’s J.D.’s eighth round in a row that’s at-par or better, which is obviously an incredible streak. He’s starting to show the maturity and consistency that you need to be a great player,” coach JC Deacon said in a release.
Sophomore Ryan Orr finished the tournament at 1-under-par to secure the best finish of his career. In the opening round, Orr tied his season and career-best score of 2-under-par to lead the team.
Prior to the Seminole Intercollegiate, Orr had never finished a collegiate event under-par and was coming off of a 7-over-par performance where he couldn’t keep it together on the last few holes with a triple-bogey on 16 and a bogey to finish the round.
Orr’s best finish before his performance that locked up his share of 28th on Sunday was at the USF Invitational as a freshman when he shot 1-over-par.
“He (Orr) is getting a lot better. His long game is exceptional. He’s hitting a lot of great tee shots, a bunch of good iron shots and if he can just clean his game up around the green, especially with his short putting, he has a chance to start finishing around the top 10,” Deacon said. “Hopefully with some continuous improvement, he’ll be able to eventually start challenging to win.”
Junior A.J. Crouch shot 1-over-par, freshman Alejandro Tosti shot 2-over-par and senior Thomas Stewart shot 13-over-par.
Despite Stewart’s 1-under-par final round, his accumulated score was a major blow to the team’s hopes of progressing up the leaderboard.
The Gators seventh-place showing this weekend was the first time this Spring the team hasn’t finished in the top-five.
The Gators have another quick turnaround this week as they begin play Friday at the Chris Schenkel Invitational.
“Resting and getting our schoolwork done – those are the two most important things,” Deacon said about the upcoming week. “We’ll work out hard tomorrow as a group, and then the guys will have some time to get some work done and get some rest, and then we’ll be right back at it on Wednesday.”
Follow Ryan Summers on Twitter @RyanSummers18
J.D. Tomlinson swings during Day 1 of the SunTrust Gator Invitational on Feb. 14 at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.
J.D. Tomlinson swings during Day 1 of the SunTrust Gator Invitational on Feb. 14 at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.
