As No. 17 Florida’s closes in on the season’s end, its primary focus is beginnings.
Coach JC Deacon and the men’s golf team will begin their final tournament of the Fall season at the Florida Gulf Coast University Classic today.
UF will look to get off to a good start at Old Corkscrew Golf Club in Naples, Florida, after coming out flat in the last two tournaments.
“If we want to be great and elite, we’ve gotta find a way to start better,” Deacon said.
“And that starts with me. I’ve gotta get the guys prepared better, and we’ve got some ideas to try and do that this weekend.”
In an effort to eliminate the slow starts, earlier in the week Deacon said he planned to up the intensity of Sunday’s practice round to get the players in the right mindset.
“We’re just going to try and make the practice round a little bit more competitive, instead of just going out there and whacking it around,” Deacon said.
“We’re going to try and … put something on the line and make them focus on what they’re doing.”
That’s not the only change the Gators are making this week. For the first time this year, UF is bringing 10 golfers instead of the usual five.
Ryan Orr, Sam Horsfield, Jorge Garcia, Alejandro Tosti and A.J. Crouch will make up Florida’s starting lineup.
Kyler Tate, Ryan Celano, Blake Dyer, Conor Richardson and Richard Donegan will compete as individuals, in what Deacon calls a reward for how dedicated the team has been this year.
“(The FGCU Classic is) just a really unique opportunity that rarely comes up in college golf, where a tournament’s got enough room for essentially two teams,” Deacon said.
“But I think the guys have really earned this. … Their attitudes have been so much better this year. Their work ethic has been really good. ... (It’s) kind of a reward for everyone more than anything.”
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UF's A.J. Crouch follows through on his backswing at the 2015 SunTrust Gator Invitational on Feb. 14, 2015 at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.
