Following his first season as the head coach of the Gators men’s golf team, a season in which he saw his squad reach the NCAA Championship, J.C. Deacon enters his second season with a number of key contributors returning from last year’s squad.
A.J. Crouch will be entering his senior season as the presumed No. 1 golfer after completing the 2014-15 season with four top-10 finishes, including winning the Florida Gulf Coast Invitational in October.
Junior Ryan Orr played the second most rounds of any player on the team last year (37), and he finished with the third-most birdies (95).
Both Alejandro Tosti and Ryan Celano are talented sophomores who should be able to crack the lineup more often.
Tosti and Celano will need to build on their freshmen campaigns due to Florida needing to replace the lost production of departed golfers J.D. Tomlinson and Eric Banks, along with two other seniors.
Newcomer Sam Horsfield has a chance to do what Celano and Tosti did for the Gators last season as Deacon called him "an overnight program changer."
Horsfield qualified for the 2015 U.S. Open but missed the cut after shooting 11-over par after two rounds.
Deacon’s first season was considered a success, as the team had nine top-10 finishes and was able to reach the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship with relatively no expectations to do so.
However, the Gators did not play well enough through a tournament to capture a team title last season.
Deacon will have to prove his worth this season to keep the Gators heading in the right direction and break through to win a tournament.
The men’s team begins its season on Sept. 11 at the Carpet Capital Invitational in Dalton, Georgia, a tournament the team finished in 13th place out of 14 teams last season.
On the women’s side, head coach Emily Glaser will look to have her team bounce back after a disappointing end to its 2014-15 season.
The Gators had five top-five finishes as a team last year, including winning the Briar’s Creek Invitational in March.
However, Florida’s season ended at the NCAA Regional Championship in Raleigh, North Carolina as it failed to qualify for the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship.
Karolina Vlckova qualified for the championship as an individual and ended her season by posting a score of 19-over par.
Vlckova now enters her third season as she tries to build on her sophomore season, a campaign that saw her with the best stroke average on the team (74.06) and the most top-25 finishes (seven).
Sophomore Taylor Tomlinson had a promising freshman season, as she and Vlckova were the two most consistent players in the lineup.
Tomlinson had six top-25 finishes and was in the lineup for every tournament last season.
Juniors Kelly Grassel and Maria Torres also return to fill out a lineup that will no longer feature seniors Camilla Hedberg and Anna Young.
Grassel had the highest individual finish for the Gators as she finished in sole possession of second place at the Briar’s Creek Invitational.
Torres had a solid sophomore year as she finished with a stroke average of 75, good enough for the third best on the team.
Glaser and Florida will begin their season on Sept. 13 at the Cougar Classic in Charleston, South Carolina, a tournament where the Gators finished in 12th place out of 23 teams last year.
Follow Luis Torres on Twitter @LFTorresIII
UF's A.J. Crouch follows through on his backswing at the 2015 SunTrust Gator Invitational on Feb. 14, 2015 at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.
