Florida turned things around in its conference title run on Saturday.
The Gators improved 11 strokes from Friday’s team total, moving to 10th place with a score of 573 (+13) at the Southeastern Conference Championship in St. Simons Island, Ga. The team shot 281 compared to round one’s 292 output.
No. 1 Alabama retained its first-place slot after shooting 538 (-22) over the first two rounds.
“A pretty solid day today,” coach Buddy Alexander said in a release. “The golf course was a little bit easier, but we had all five guys hang in there pretty well today so that was a positive.”
Eric Banks shot 1-under-par on the par-70 course in round two, finishing the day tied for 24th place and putting his total score at 142 (+2). Although he double bogeyed on the fourth hole and bogeyed on the tenth, he recovered with four birdies and even pars through the rest of the holes he played.
Ryan Orr was the only Gator to not improve on Friday’s performance, shooting a second round score of 74 after his even-par first round. This brings his total score to 144 (+4), and he now shares a spot for 36th place.
J.D. Tomlinson is tied for 43rd place with rounds of 73 and 72, bringing his tournament total to 145 (+5).
Richard Donegan improved six strokes from Friday’s showing of 76 with a Round 2 even-par score, putting him in a tie for 47th place and his total at 146 (+6).
Victor Tarnstrom had the most dramatic turnaround of all the Gators. After shooting a 15-over-par 85 on Friday, putting him in last place, he shot even par Saturday. He is now tied for 68th place with a 155 (+15) total score.
Florida and the rest of the 14-team field will conclude the championship Sunday with the third and final round beginning at 7:30 a.m.
Follow Layne Weitzel on Twitter @laynejweitzel
