While golf fans around the world were captivated by the Masters on Sunday, the Florida men’s golf team was putting in practice time at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.
With the Southeastern Conference Championship on Friday, the sixth-ranked Gators have no time to be fans. Coach J.C. Deacon said it’s about putting in the hard work to get ready — and they are.
"The guys were working hard," Deacon said on Monday. "I hope they got to see (the Masters), but they were out there getting prepared."
According to Deacon, it paid off.
Eleven out of 10.
That’s the number the second-year coach gave to assess his players’ commitment in practice.
"I think all five of them just know the opportunity that we have," Deacon said.
"All of them have been doing their thing to get ready. Alejandro (Tosti) has been looking really good, and Ryan Orr has been putting in some really, really hard work."
The Gators will face stiff competition in St. Simons, Georgia, come tee time. In addition to Florida, four of the top-10 teams in the country are from the SEC, including No. 4 Vanderbilt, which bested the Gators by a single stroke to capture the Mason Rudolph Championship on April 3.
In addition, of the 11 players on UF’s roster, only four have actually competed in an SEC Championship. Richard Donegan, A.J. Crouch, Orr and Tosti are the only Gators on the roster to have competed in the event.
The Gators’ top golfers, Sam Horsfield and Jorge Garcia, are freshmen and new to the SEC experience.
But Deacon said he doesn’t expect that to be an issue.
In fact, it’s almost an advantage.
Horsfield, who collected his fourth SEC honor when he was named SEC Freshman of the Week on Wednesday, has won three events this year and is the winningest freshman in UF history. Horsfield is also fifth in the SEC in scoring average at 70.3.
Garcia, even with recent struggles, is still having a solid freshman season.
He has finished in the top 20 in seven events and is third on the team in percentage of rounds counted at 88.9. Garcia has also had success outside of collegiate competition, including a win at the South Beach International Amateur, the World’s 14th-ranked amateur event, in December.
"Those guys are so seasoned tournament-wise that, you know, it shouldn’t make too much of a difference," Deacon said.
"They’ve played with a lot of the guys that we’re going to play against and against the teams, so there shouldn’t be too much shock there."
Deacon said all his players are committed to putting in the work, and he expects them to be in the fold come the final round.
"I’m excited for the guys," Deacon said.
"They’re gonna be prepared, and all these guys know how to get it done. It’s just a matter of time and going and executing now."
Contact Ray Boone at rboone@alligator.org and you can follow him on Twitter @rboone1994.
J.C. Deacon looks on during the 2016 SunTrust Invitational at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.
