On a cold, windy and downright dreary weekend in the middle of February, nobody would bat an eye if the 14 teams participating in the Gators Invitational looked a little sluggish out of the gates, especially with a 7:45 a.m. tee time.
However, not only was the pace as brisk as the weather, but the level of play across the board was the best of any tournament Florida has played in this season. The Gators were expected to be comfortable on their own course, but not many could have expected the stellar play of some of their opponents, especially Oklahoma State.
The participating teams in the Gators Invitational included Charlotte, Eastern Michigan, Florida Gulf Coast, No. 13 Florida, Furman, Georgia Southern, Jacksonville, Liberty, North Florida, No. 7 Oklahoma State, Penn State, South Florida, UCF and West Virginia.
Despite sharing the course with a top-10 team, Florida still came in as the favorites to win the tournament, as it had won the past five versions of the annual event.
The Gators trotted out a young, yet talented, lineup, as four of its five starters are underclassmen. The lineup consisted of: junior Ian Gilligan, sophomore Jack Turner, sophomore Luke Poulter, redshirt freshman Rylan Shim and freshman Parker Sands. The start for Sands marked the first of his promising career.
While these tournaments usually only have one individual participant, Florida had four individual golfers, consisting of junior Parker Bell, senior Ryan Hart, junior Matthew Kress and freshman Zack Swanwick
Day One
Saturday was a 36-hole, two round marathon, which the Gators led from start to finish.
To nobody’s surprise, Gilligan led the way. After a solid front nine that put him at 1-under, he caught fire on the back nine. Gilligan did not record a single bogey, notching birdies on holes 10, 14 and 17 to finish with a 4-under.
Gilligan again notched birdies in bunches in the second round, with back-to-back ones on holes seven and eight, leading the way for six total. While this was slightly evened out by three bogeys, Gilligan’s 7-under par day one total placed him tied for the lead.
Meanwhile, Poulter, who recently has had a tough time away from home, put up a respectable showing Saturday. A pair of birdies on holes six and 10 placed him at 1-under on the opening 18.
Poulter looked primed to be headed for an uneventful second round on day one, until two more birdies on the final two holes placed him at 2-under, with his 3-under total tying him for third on the day.
Sands also burst onto the scene, notching two birdies in his first three holes in college play en route to four birdies on the front nine. A quieter second half saw Sands finish his first round at an impressive 3-under.
Sands had a less eventful second round, evening two birdies with two bogeys on the front nine, and recording nine consecutive pars to finish the day at 3-under, good for fifth place.
Rounding out the opening 18 performances were Shim (1-under) and Turner (E). Shim, who was making his first start of the spring, turned in a solid performance. A birdie on the opening and closing holes on the back nine gave him a 1 under, although a 4-over in round two made him finish with UF’s worst day one score.
Turner, who is usually a mainstay at the top of the leaderboard, was the only player in the lineup to not shoot under par in round one, carrying an even tag into the second round. However, he caught fire at the beginning of round two, with five birdies in the first 12 holes. Two late bogeys put him at 1-under on the day.
Day Two
Looming inclement weather pushed the start time from 8 a.m. to 7:20 a.m. in an attempt to escape the oncoming onslaught of rain. All was fine for the first couple of hours, and then the floodgates opened.
The middle six holes were met by howling winds, sending balls flying off of the course and the results into a mayhem. Florida, Oklahoma State and Georgia Southern swapped turns at the top of the leaderboard at seemingly every swing.
The chaos of the middle six holes were only rivaled by the final six. Georgia Southern had faded from the leaderboard, with it turning into a two-horse race between Florida and Oklahoma State for the title.
The Cowboys took a commanding three-stroke lead with a few holes remaining, and Florida needed a miracle. Suddenly, the clouds disappeared, paving the way for a Gators comeback.
After the weather delay, the two squads went in opposite directions. The Gators knocked in a slew of pars, while Oklahoma State hir bogey after bogey. Ultimately, it was UF that came out on top by a stroke.
Gilligan was the story once again. His two consecutive birdies on holes 11 and 12 gave him a 1-under on the day, tying him with Charlotte junior Justin Matthews for the lead.
After a tie at par for the first swing-off, Gilligan was able to best Matthews in the second swing-off, as Matthews bogeyed to give Gilligan the win.
Sunday marked Gilligan’s fifth total tournament win, as well as his second as a Gator.
Turner had a solid day, knocking in four birdies in the opening 12 holes en route to shooting 2-under on the day. Turner’s 3-under total placed him in a tie for sixth.
Also in a tie for sixth was Poulter, who followed an impressive day one with an unremarkable day two. He opened with 12 straight pars, before evening out a birdie with a late bogey.
Rounding out the lineup were Shim and Sands. Shim shot a respectable 1-over to finish in a tie for 26th.
Sands could not keep his day-one momentum going. A string of late bogeys and double bogeys placed him at 10-over on the day.
This was Florida’s first tournament win of the spring, and its fourth of the 2024-25 academic year. The Gators will be back in action on March 2 in Las Vegas at the Southern Highlands Collegiate.
