The No. 10 UF men's golf team struggled to find a rhythm at the Southern Highlands Collegiate in Las Vegas over the weekend. The result was music to no one's ears.
The Gators finished eighth of 16 teams at a collective 30-over, 25 shots off the first-place pace of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) and nine shots behind seventh-place Arizona State.
UF couldn't break 300 as a team for the second day in a row, shooting exactly that number on Sunday in their 12-over round after a 301 on Saturday, making this UF's first tournament since the Carpet Capital Collegiate in September without two sub-300 rounds.
The Gators, who began Sunday in 10th place, only snuck up the leaderboard on Sunday because No. 6 Georgia Tech and Arizona slid even further down the list with 17- and 16-over rounds, respectively.
One of UF's lone bright spots of the weekend was Billy Horschel looking like the Billy Horschel of old. The two-time All-American turned in a one-over 217 (71-72-74) to lead the Gators and finish with sole possession of 10th place.
Somewhat less pleasant, Will Strickler's bright spring ran into a stormy patch. Strickler, UF's hottest golfer entering the weekend, scraped his way to a 22-over 238 (79-80-79), good for 68th place. The junior was not factored into UF's team score on any day.
Senior Manuel Villegas finished at seven-over in a tie for 24th, and fellow senior Tyler Brown's nine-over weekend earned him a share of 31st place.
Junior Toby Ragland finished tied for 53rd place at 13-over.
UF's next tournament, the Chris Schenkel Invitational, begins on March 14th in Statesboro, Ga.
