The Florida men’s golf team could not keep up the blistering pace it got off to in the first round of the BancorpSouth Intercollegiate Tournament, when it finished with the best score of any round of the event with a 272.
The No. 10 Gators scored a 289 and 286 in the second and third round, respectively, allowing North Florida to pass them for first place Tuesday in their last regular-season competition.
The Gators finished in second place and carded a three-round total of 847 (272-289-286, -17), one shot behind the Ospreys. UF got solid scores from all but one of its golfers.
Freshman Tommy Mou tied for 62nd out of 75 in the tournament with a 12-over par.
Florida has struggled all year to find five golfers it can count on for solid scores and might still be searching for the right lineup with the postseason coming up next.
The next-worst finisher for the Gators behind Mou was freshman Phillip Choi, who tied for 28th with a four-over par.
Seniors Tyson Alexander and Tim McKenney did all they could to pull out a win for the Gators. Both shot season-best scores to finish in first and second place.
Alexander claimed the first individual title of his collegiate career, shooting 11-under par.
McKenney, who was leading Alexander by one stroke heading into the final round, scored an even-par while his teammates put up a two-under. McKenney’s tournament score of 206 (-10) was still good enough for his career-best result.
Rounding out the group for UF was junior Bank Vongvanij, who finished in a tie for 17th with a 54-hole score of 217 (72-72-73, +1).
