The Florida men’s and women’s golf teams both failed to live up to expectations in rain-shortened tournaments.
The men were competing at the John Hayt Collegiate Invitational in Ponte Vedra, while the women were at the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
The final round of the Hayt Invitational was canceled Wednesday after heavy rains made the course too wet to compete. Florida finished tied for fourth after shooting 587 (+11) as a team, 28 strokes behind champion North Florida, who shot 559 (-17). UNF's Kevin Phelan beat out teammate Sean Dale (135) by four strokes to capture the victory at 13 under par.
The Gators' top finisher was J.D. Tomlinson, who finished one shot below par (143) and tied for ninth.
T.J. Vogel, one of two senior starters in the match, recorded a team-best 69 (-3) in the first round but fell back in the second round, shooting a 75 (+3) to finish tied for 12th.
Senior captain Tyler McCumber also started strong, shooting even par in the first (72). But he slipped back in the second after recording a 76 (+4), finishing tied in 31st.
Eric Banks made the biggest improvement after lowering his score from 78 (+6) in the first round to 74 (+2) in the second to finish tied for 55th.
The only Florida starter who struggled throughout was Santiago Gavino, who shot 17 over par (161).
The Gators will return to action in the S.H. Collegiate Masters on March 8 – 10.
The women’s team also struggled to deal with some of the rough weather conditions in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, which led to the cancellation of the second round.
Florida was tied for fifth after shooting two under par (286) in the first round but finished tied for 10th after shooting 22 over par (596) in the second round. Baylor's Hayley Davis won the tournament outright after shooting 140 (-4).
Eventual co-champions UCLA and USC finished four over par on the day after each shot a collective 580.
The Gators' top finishers were their two best players, Camilla Hedberg and Isabelle Lendl, who finished tied for 13th after shooting two over par (146) for the tournament.
Elcin Ulu, a junior transfer from Redlands Community College, improved her play in the Allstate Sugar Bowl after two disappointing finishes in the Gators' first two tournaments. Ulu finished tied for 41st after shooting seven over par (151).
Mia Piccio and Anna Young each failed to improve in the second round and finished tied for 60th. The two starters added six and four strokes in the second round, respectively, to shoot 10 over par (154) in the Sugar Bowl.
Florida 's next tourney will be the SunTrust Gator Invitational on March 15-17 at Mark Bostick Golf Course.
“It was a tough day for us,” coach Emily Bastel said in a release.
