The Florida men’s golf team entered the JU invitational hoping to prove itself worthy of its No. 3 national ranking, and the Gators appear to be well on their way to doing so.
The Gators shot a 7-under-par 569 to build an astonishing 17-stroke lead over second-place North Florida.
After 36 holes, senior Bank Vongvanij led UF’s onslaught with a 6-under-par 138, outplaying the rest of the field by three strokes.
Two of Vongvanij’s teammates, senior Andres Echavarria and sophomore Phillip Choi, posted 1-under-par scores of 143 to tie for third. Sophomore Tyler McCumber posted a respectable 1-over-par 145.
Tommy Mou’s 8-over-par 152 was the only blemish on the day for the Gators, but by rule, his score won’t even be included in Florida’s team total.
Florida’s domination of the competition on Monday is best summarized by a couple of staggering statistics: Vongvanij, Echavarria and Choi were three of just five golfers to post under-par scores in the 75-player field. The scores of the aforementioned trio, as well as the 1-over-par 145 of McCumber were four of the top eight scores of the day.
Day 2 action begins today at 8:40 a.m.
