The No. 6 Florida men's golf team finds itself in a deep hole following first round play in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
The team is tied for 22nd out of 30 teams at the NCAA Championships with Baylor and Auburn after scoring a 6 over par before play was suspended Friday night due to darkness. UF's tee time was pushed back a couple hours due to showers in the area on Friday morning, which has led to many other teams not yet finishing their respective first rounds as well.
The five UF Golfers are spread across holes 13 through 16 and will resume play Saturday morning. The team must finish first round play and then will move on to second round play afterwards on Saturday afternoon.
After Friday's play, senior Alejandro Tosti has the best score out of all five Gators sitting at even-par and tied for 37th individually. He made three birdies and score 11 pars.
The anchor of the Florida lineup, junior Gordon Neale, struggled a bit on Friday, scoring a 1 over par through thirteen holes but managed to make five birdies, the most of any Gator on the day. However, double bogeys on holes 5 and 10 set the junior back.
Sophomore Andy Zhang also featured a 1 over par on the scoreboard after finishing 14 holes. Zhang, who boasted the best stroke average on the team coming in, only had two birdies through fourteen.
The two UF golfers who performed the worst on Friday were freshmen John Axelsen (+4) and Chris Nido (+6). The two combined to make five birdies, three double-bogeys and whopping nine bogeys. Nido has two holes left to finish in the first round, while Axelsen has three.
The Gators will look to turn things around and make Sunday’s cut to 15 , while stroke play on Monday determines the final eight teams for match play.
Northwestern is currently in the lead at 8 under, while Oklahoma (-5) is the next closest in second place.
You can follow Evan Lepak on Twitter @evanmplepakkk or contact him at elepak@alligator.org.
Senior Alejandro Tosti paced the Gators at the NCAA Championships with an opening round of even par.
