No. 18 Florida made a statement on Tuesday when it placed four Gators in the top five of the Florida Gulf Coast University Classic, capturing their first team win of the season in the final Fall tournament.
Coach JC Deacon and the men’s golf team went wire-to-wire at the Old Corkscrew Golf Club in Naples, taking the lead after the opening round and holding on for the final 36 holes.
The Gators never fell out of first place and won by a healthy 42-stroke margin.
UF’s final score of 13-under marks the second time in five tournaments this season it has finished under par.
Sophomore Alejandro Tosti ended the tournament at 5-under par and took home a share of the individual title with Central Florida’s Manuel Elvira.
Tosti birdied four of his first seven holes Tuesday and held on to capture the first win of his collegiate career.
Freshman Sam Horsfield closed the tournament at 3-under, good enough for third place. Horsfield’s top-five finish marks his third of the Fall season.
Junior Ryan Orr took fourth place, one stroke behind Horsfield, at 2-under.
Senior Richard Donegan, competing as an individual in his Fall debut, finished the Classic in fifth place at even-par.
Freshman Jorge Garcia tied for seventh at 3-over for the weekend, and Junior A.J. Crouch shot 5-over en route to a tie for 12th place.
With five Gators competing as individuals, UF had nine of its 10 golfers place inside the top 25.
Despite taking home his first win at UF, coach Deacon gave all the credit to his players.
"I think the guys made it look really easy this week, but a lot of hard work has gone into it," Deacon said in a release.
"It’s a 42-shot victory, which sounds like a lot, but we ask a lot out of these guys.
"They’ve been up early and had late nights working at the golf course and have spent a lot of time at school, and there are a lot of sacrifices that go into it.
"A win’s a win, and there’s a lot of good teams out there, and I’m happy that the guys are starting to get some results from their hard work."
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Coach Emily Glaser and the women’s team also capped off their Fall season with an exclamation point, winning the Alamo Invitational to take home their first team win of the 2015-16 season.
The No. 20 Gators demolished Southeastern Conference rival No. 7 Arkansas, beating the second-place Razorbacks by 12 strokes.
Four Florida golfers tied for sixth or better on the way to a 6-under par finish, their best team score of the season.
Glaser was happy to see all the golfers on the team finish the third and final round under par on Tuesday.
"It was a great day," Glaser said in a release. "I’m obviously happy for the team to win, but I’m even more impressed in the way in which they did it. From the beginning, we never let up and they went out and had to win it, it wasn’t given to them.
"To have the entire team shoot under par today is a testament to how bad they wanted it, and how hard they have worked this Fall."
Junior Maria Torres — who competed in the 2013 invitational — took the out-right victory at 6-under par and tied for the low round of the day Tuesday with a 3-under 69.
"It feels amazing, but I am still in a little bit of shock," Torres said in a release. "Today I saw that hard work and patience really pays off in the long run."
Junior Karolina Vlckova tied for second place with Baylor’s Laura Lonardi at 1-under par. The finish marks her lowest of the season, thanks to a tournament-lowest 68 second-round score on Monday.
Junior transfer Sydney Needham — who was competing as an individual — and sophomore Taylor Tomlinson tied for sixth at 1-over.
All six UF golfers finished in the top 25, a promising sign for the upcoming Spring season.
"It’s a great way to end the fall season," Glaser said, "and this victory should help the team realize their true potential."
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Ryan Orr swings during Day 1 of the SunTrust Gator Invitational on Feb. 14, 2015, at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.
