Freshman Ryan Celano continues his impressive run as the top player for the Florida men’s golf team.
The Naples, Fla., native won his second consecutive team qualifying for the Gators as they head to Orlando for the Tavistock Collegiate Invitational at the Lake Nona Golf & Country Club starting today.
Celano will be sitting in the No. 1 position in the lineup for Florida.
UF hasn’t competed in a tournament since their second place finish at the Wolf Run Intercollegiate in September. Coach J.C. Deacon said the layoff let the team get to know him and what he wants from them when they’re competing.
“I think I’ve really had a chance to kind of let the kids to get to know me and know what I expect,” Deacon said.
The Gators will be going up against stiff competition in Orlando, as some of the top teams in the country will be competing. No. 1 Illinois headlines the field, and UF finished behind the Fighting Illini at the Wolf Run four weeks ago.
No. 2 Baylor, along with rival No. 6 Florida State will be joining the Gators in Orlando. There are a total of seven top 25 teams in the field, including No. 10 Texas Tech, who is cohosting the tournament with UCF.
Senior J.D. Tomlinson said the tournament gives the team an opportunity to see where they stand at the moment.
“I don’t know if we have to prove ourselves, I think it’s just a judge of where we’re at right now,” Tomlinson said. “The end of the post-season isn't until May, so this will just tell us what we need to improve and how far away, if we are away, from the best teams in the country.”
Joining Celano and Tomlinson in the UF lineup will be junior A.J. Crouch and seniors Thomas Stewart and Eric Banks. Tomlinson and Stewart are the only two players in the lineup that have played in the first two tournaments of the season.
After Florida’s second place finish in Zionsville, Ind., the team is expecting to continue their momentum heading into Orlando. Deacon is hoping the team will position themselves around the top of the leaderboard in the final days of the tournament.
“I’m expecting the guys to be competitive and beat some teams and hopefully be right around the lead by the end of the week,” Deacon said. “There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be, we have five very capable players…I’m really excited to see what they do.”
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