Today, the Florida men’s golf team hopes 13 is its lucky number as it begins play in the NCAA Championships for the 13th straight year.
The Gators are looking to build off of an impressive performance at the NCAA Regionals, where they finished second.
The result was the best of the entire spring season for UF and was much needed after a disastrous 10th-place finish at the Southeastern Conference Championships. Thanks to their success in Baton Rouge, the Gators are confident about their chances this week.
“What happened at the SECs was a fluke,” senior T.J. Vogel said. “We’ve never played that bad, and it’s not going to happen again. How we played at regionals is who we are. We’re that good. We can play with Alabama.”
The Gators are familiar with the Crimson Tide. The teams most recently faced each other in the Baton Rouge Regional, where the Tide came back on the final day and erased an eight-shot Florida lead by shooting 282 (-6) in the final round – 14 shots better than the Gators. Alabama won the regional by six strokes.
“We’re going to be measured forever by what we do this week,” coach Buddy Alexander said.
“No one remembers what happened at the Gator Invitational in 2004, but I can tell you what we finished in the NCAAs that year .”
The competition will unfold from the Capital City Club Crabapple Course in Woodstock, Ga., a course that will challenge Florida’s length.
The course will play at 7,319 yards – 619 yards longer than the Mark Bostick Golf Course, which plays at 6,700 yards. No Gator has competed at the Capital City Club.
“I don’t know much about this course,” senior Tyler McCumber said. “I know it’s in pretty good shape, I know it’s long and it’s going to be in championship condition. I think that favors our team. We’re good ball strikers. We’re straight off the tee.”
McCumber has made a habit of coming up big in postseason play. He is one of three seniors in Florida’s lineup this week and enters the tournament with four top-three finishes in his last five postseason events.
McCumber, Vogel and Tommy Mou will be making their final appearances with Florida. Alexander added Mou to the lineup to replace freshman A.J. Crouch before the Baton Rouge Regional.
Vogel had a strong performance in Baton Rouge, shooting 215 (-1) and tying McCumber for third at the tournament.
“It’s bittersweet,” Vogel said. “I think I’m ready to go, but I’ve had such an amazing time here the last two years.”
One question mark remains for UF – the status of sophomore J.D. Tomlinson.
The Gainesville native received a stitches in his toe after an accident at a pool.
“He cut … his big toe on his right foot,” Alexander said. “If it was any other toe, I think we’d be alright, but that’s the one out of ten toes that might be the most important for a right-handed golfer, because when he finishes [his swing motion], he finishes with his weight on that right toe.
“Kind of a freak accident at the pool,” Alexander continued. “Just cut it on a piece of tile. Wasn’t necessarily horsing around; he was with his family.”
Tomlinson took full golf shots on Friday afternoon. But with his status unclear, Alexander will take six golfers with him instead of the standard five to Woodstock – the first time Alexander has ever taken more than a quintet to the NCAA Championships.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the back end of Florida’s lineup, Alexander is optimistic about the way his team is playing entering the tournament.
“They stepped up in a big way at the regionals when maybe a lot of people were counting us out,” Alexander said. “That’s a tribute to them and their resolve. Hopefully they can continue that this week.”
Senior T.J. Vogel and the Gators finished 25th at the NCAA Championships in Woodstock, Ga.
