Florida won the Olympia Fields Invitational last season with a score of 5-over par.
This year, though, their finish wasn’t as stellar.
The No. 7 Gators shot 11-over on Sunday to close out their final round at the Olympia Fields Country Club North Course in Chicago, finishing in seventh place at 880 (290-299-291, +40) in the 15-team field.
Stanford won the event with a team score of 9-over. Oklahoma State and Auburn finished tied for second 16 shots back.
“We didn’t have a great week,” coach Buddy Alexander said. “It was just the first tournament of the year, and we’re kind of in the learning process.”
Junior Tyler McCumber was a bright spot for Florida on Sunday, leading the Gators with a 1-under 69 to close out his tournament at 5-over.
“[McCumber] played great,” Alexander said. “He just had his good stuff this week and he battled like a champ the first two days. He did a real good job around the green.”
After two solid rounds, junior T.J. Vogel struggled, shooting a (7-over) 77 to finish the tournament 7-over with two birdies against seven bogeys and a double bogey.
“I was disappointed for him, not in him,” Alexander said. “He was in a position to have a really good event and obviously didn’t play well. This was his first tournament for Florida, and it was solid.”
McCumber finished tied for seventh individually, while Vogel tied for 15th. Stanford’s Patrick Rodgers finished with the top individual score at 4-under.
UF made 24 bogeys Sunday and 70 for the tournament, while it tallied 10 double bogeys. Alexander attributed his team’s bogeys to the difficultly of the course.
“It’s a tough course and we didn’t play our best. Bogeys happen,” he said.“They played the U.S. Open here; it’s a big-boy course. They don’t play U.S. Open on those little chip and putts you might play on the weekend or something.”
Florida’s next tournament is Sept. 26-27 at the Inverness Invitational in Toledo, Ohio. The par-71, 7,255-yard Inverness Country Club has hosted four U.S. Opens, two U.S. Senior Opens, two PGA Championships and a U.S. Amateur Championship.
Alexander said he expects the Gators to improve by their next event.
“They just have to get better every day,” he said. “That’s all we’re trying to do.”
