The first spring tournament for the Florida men’s golf team is in the books.
After finishing in 13th place out of 14 teams in the first fall tournament, UF got its spring season off to a better start. The Gators completed the Sea Best Invitational in second place, at 40-over-par for the tournament. Florida finished seven shots behind No. 12 North Carolina, who took home the title with an overall score of 33-over-par.
It is Florida’s third second place finish this season under first year coach J.C. Deacon.
Leading the way for UF was junior A.J. Crouch who entered the day with a three shot lead. Crouch wasn’t able to keep his lead, as he shot a 3-over, 73 to finish at 2-over-par for the event, which was good enough for second place.
Deacon said Crouch has made significant improvements in his game and will help the team as the season goes along.
“He didn’t finish his round the way he wanted to,” Deacon said in a release. “But to be first in the last tournament in the fall and to be second here are unbelievable accomplishments, and he’s really helping the team.”
Senior Eric Banks, who competed at TPC Sawgrass’ Dye Valley Course as an individual, logged his best finish this year as he finished for a tie for fifth-place, with a score of 6-over-par.
Newcomer Alejandro Tosti and sophomore Ryan Orr completed the tournament in a tie for 17th after posting a score of 13-over-par. Senior J.D. Tomlinson struggled in the final round as he dropped 10 spots on the leaderboard on the final day after shooting an 8-over, 78.
Freshman Ryan Celano rounded out the lineup with a score of 20-over-par.
Florida was able to come out on top of some teams during the Sea Best Invitational that beat them during the fall, like No. 2 Florida State. Deacon expects those teams to get better and Florida can compete with them right now.
“I think it showed the guys where we really are as a team and that we can compete with the best,” Deacon said. “It’s going to take a lot of hard work from now until the end of the year to maintain that, because all of those teams are going to get better.
“It showed the guys that we’re right there and that we can compete with the best teams anywhere.”
Follow Luis Torres on Twitter @LFTorresIII
