On Sunday night, after his team scrapped to an eight-over first round and a tie for sixth at the John Hayt Invitational, UF coach Buddy Alexander was keeping the faith.
"We didn't have a particularly good day, but we didn't play our way out of the golf tournament," he said then. "We're still in it."
Monday night, after UF played its worst round of the season by far, a collective 17-over performance that featured just eight birdies and a total of eight double bogeys or worse, his tone was more subdued.
"We couldn't have played a whole lot worse," he admitted. "We had mistakes and poor execution."
Manuel Villegas led the Gators, matching his first-round effort with another two-over 74 that could have been much better if not for a triple bogey on what Alexander described as an "easy par 3," the 15th hole, where UF sent three balls into a water hazard.
Still, Villegas drew praise that was hard to come by on Monday.
"He played pretty well, actually," Alexander said. "(The triple bogey) was too bad because other than that he played solidly. He's played the most solid golf of our guys."
Far less solid was the usually strong duo of junior Billy Horschel and sophomore Tyson Alexander. Horschel fired his second straight five-over 77, and Alexander, improving on an abysmal first-round 83, still made three double bogeys in his seven-over 79.
Horschel, a two-time All-American, came into the tournament leading UF and the Southeastern Conference in scoring average with a sparkling 69.77 mark, and Alexander, the coach's son, was the team's hottest player, having taken a career-best third place at the SunTrust Gator Invitational just days ago.
Now, with UF in 10th place and 18 shots behind leader Alabama, those accolades mean little.
"We have to work hard and get better," Alexander said. "We need better play from Billy and Tyson in particular."
Tyler Brown, a senior from Jacksonville who plays the Sawgrass Country Club course more than any other UF player, had his ups and downs over a five-hole stretch including two birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey en route to a three-over 75. Bank Vongvanij, UF's lone freshman, failed to notch one red number in his seven-over 79.
Junior Will Strickler was the only UF player to be under par for any part of Monday's second round, as four birdies helped him to an even par 72 and a tie for third at one under.
But Strickler's success doesn't count toward UF's team totals because he is competing as an individual - just another unfortunate circumstance in a tournament already full of them.
During their second round, the Gators had to deal with wind, rain and a two-hour weather delay as most of the team was finishing the front nine, but Alexander dismissed that as an excuse for the poor showing.
"It was tough and windy out there, but it was tough and windy for everybody," he said. "It was just one of those days where nothing seemed to work for us. That's part of golf and it happens sometimes."
