The Gators wrapped up regular season play with a solid outing and finished in a tie for fourth at the Calusa Cup in Naples, Florida.
Florida tied with the Texas Longhorns at 11-over-par for the tournament and shot 6-over-par in the final round Tuesday.
All six of the Gators who competed this week finished inside the top-30 individually. Joe Pagdin led the way. The freshman bounced back in a big way in Naples after he finished in 80th place at the LSU Invitational. He shot 1-under-par across three days of competition. Pagdin’s fifth-place finish at the Calusa Cup marks his best as a Gator.
The English national struggled a bit in the final round and ended the day at 3-over-par. He carded five birdies but also knocked down four bogeys and two double bogeys.
Freshman Tyler Wilkes continued his successful spring and finished inside the top-20. Wilkes shot 3-over-par for the tournament and tied for 15th. The Tampa native improved on his score each day of the event and shot even par Tuesday.
Sophomore Ricky Castillo and redshirt sophomore Fred Biondi both cracked the top-20 and tied for 20th at 5-over-par. Castillo totaled a 2-over-par in the final round. His day started out with a triple bogey on the par-4 first hole, but the California native settled in and shot 1-under-par for the rest of the round.
Yuxin Lin rounded out the Florida lineup in 28th place. He shot 11-over-par for the tournament but improved on his score each round like Wilkes. After starting with a 6-over-par 78 on day one, Lin rebounded with rounds of 2-over-par and 3-over-par.
Junior Giovanni Manzoni competed as an individual for the Gators this week. While his score didn’t count toward UF’s team score, the Italian national still cracked the top-30 and tied for 29th at 12-over-par.
Florida’s ability to avoid negative holes buoyed the team to its fourth-place finish. The Gators knocked in 184 pars over three rounds, 18 more than the next closest team. However, they couldn’t convert scorable holes into positive strokes, as they finished the event with just 35 birdies, the second lowest in the tournament.
The Gators’ regular season concluded. They finished spring play with top-5 finishes in every event the team competed in, including wins at the Timuquana Collegiate and the Gators Invitational.
UF will have two weeks to prepare for the SEC Championship, which takes place April 22-25 in St. Simons Island, Georgia.
Contact Michael Hull at mhull@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @Michael_Hull33
Michael Hull is a fourth-year journalism sports & media major and a sports writer at The Alligator. He hosts the weekly sports podcast and has worked on staff for five semesters. In the past, Hull has served as the sports editor, the men's and women's golf beat writer, the volleyball beat writer and the football beat writer.
