On Monday, the Florida men’s golf team finished the stroke-play portion of the NCAA Championship in Eugene, Oregon. The Gators posted a 17-over-par 297 in Round 4 and fell to 15th place at 43 over to end their season.
After narrowly surviving the 15-team cutline after Sunday’s third round, Florida needed to overcome the five teams in front of it to jump into the top eight and advance to match play.
During the fourth round, the Gators could do little to overcome the difficult layout presented by Eugene Country Club. The marble-like greens and narrow fairways proved to be a combination too difficult to crack for Florida.
Sam Horsfield led the Gators in Round 4. The freshman posted a 1-under 69 to finish in a tie for 22nd at 6 over. As a result, Horsfield, who played in every event this year, collected his 12th top-25 finish of the season.
“I was with Sam all day,” UF coach J.C. Deacon said in a release. “He played great. He tends to make things look very easy.”
Horsfield was the only UF player to break par, however.
Fellow UF freshman Gordon Neale began Monday’s round in the top 10. Neale carded a 7-over 77 in Round 4 — his second-worst round of the year — to finish in a tie for 26th at 7 over.
Sophomore Alejandro Tosti shot a 4-over 74 to finish the tournament in a tie for 60th at 13 over.
Jorge Garcia capped off his freshman year with a lackluster, 7-over 77 to finish in 78th place at 19 over.
Junior Ryan Orr, who also shot 77, finished the tournament in 83rd place at 26 over.
“It didn’t go our way, and we just didn’t have our best stuff this week,” Deacon said.
Oregon’s Aaron Wise shot a final-round, 1-over 71 to capture the individual championship at 5 under. The top-eight teams, including Southeastern Conference rivals LSU, Vanderbilt and South Carolina, advance to match play to determine the team champion.
For Florida, it’s time to go home and regroup.
“The guys fought hard and did everything they could,” Deacon said. “We just have to get back to work this summer and be ready to go next year.”
Contact Ray Boone at rboone@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @rboone1994.
J.C. Deacon looks on during the 2016 SunTrust Invitational at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.
