Last weekend, the Florida men’s golf team took a young core of underclassmen to the Carpet Capital Collegiate, where the Gators placed 7th in the Fall season’s opening tournament.
There were two big takeaways from the team’s weekend at The Farm Golf Club in Dalton, Georgia.
Although it was the first collegiate tournament for four out of the five starting players, the team can’t spend too much time adjusting to the new atmosphere.
Both the players and the coaches know that the team has enough talent to place higher than 7th.
Despite the rough start, everyone who’s a part of the team is incredibly optimistic about the amount of young talent and depth that this 2015-16 squad brings to the table.
Even though the 7th place finish was an improvement over last year’s 13th place result in the Carpet Capital Collegiate, head coach J.C. Deacon was the first to admit that the team has yet to meet its potential.
"Seventh sounds better, but, to be honest, we were all pretty disappointed about how we played and how we finished," Deacon said.
When asked about what the team needed to improve upon most, Deacon stressed the importance of not giving up too many strokes on individual holes.
"We have to make a lot less double bogeys and triple bogeys. I think we had eight or more as a team for the weekend," the second-year head coach said.
"Next week in the tournament, we’ve got to be more disciplined and kind of take our medicine more when we get in trouble. We can make bogeys, which don’t really hurt you, but we have to cut out the big numbers."
But despite Deacon’s dissatisfaction with certain aspects of the Gators’ first performance, he’s encouraged about the team’s influx of young talent.
"We played four true freshmen and Alejandro (Tosti) is only in his second semester at Florida, so really we had five freshmen who are just getting a taste of what college golf is all about."
The same sentiment was echoed by freshman Sam Horsfield, who, despite leading the way for the Gators in their first tournament, he knows that the team underachieved.
"We have everything to prove," Horsfield said.
"We went out in our first tournament and didn’t play our best, but this team is going to build off of that and we’re going to get better. We have a great freshman class this year, probably number one in the country in terms of recruiting."
Individually, Horsfield put on an impressive display last weekend, tying for 4th place with a 1-under 215 in the first tournament of his college career.
However, Horsfield is not one to rest on his laurels.
"Obviously, we would’ve liked to play a little bit better as a team. We have to learn from it and then hopefully play better in our next event."
That next event is the Dick’s Sporting Goods Collegiate Challenge Cup, only one week from today.
Deacon knows that the team has enough talent to be one of the best in the country, but concedes that it won’t happen right away.
He acknowledges that the golfers need to make some important improvements before teeing off next week.
"We’ve got to tighten up the details, we’ve got to get more disciplined, we’ve got to work even harder than we are right now, and all of us need to get better individually and help the team."
Deacon understands the importance of dedication and patience.
He believes Florida’s biggest strength is each individual player’s drive to be great.
"That everyone going in the right direction, pushing each other in a positive manner, being great teammates, supporting each other, and working together for one goal," Deacon said.
"I think it’s pretty cool to be around."
Follow Matt Brannon on Twitter @MattB_727
Alejandro Tosti putts during the 2015 SunTrust Gator Invitational on Feb. 14.
