The end of the fall season for the Florida men’s golf team started with a sixth-place finish in the opening round of the Invitational at The Ocean Course on Sunday at Kiawah Island, S.C.
The Gators (+12) teed off the day with a strong start but couldn’t finish steady, sitting 12 strokes behind tournament leader Kentucky.
“Not what we were hoping for,” coach Buddy Alexander said. “Got off to a pretty good start which is not something we have done this year but didn’t finish particularly well.”
Florida is playing as the two-time defending champions of the tournament. Last season, five of the six Gators who competed placed in the top 10.
Freshman Ryan Orr was the only player on Florida’s roster to finish the day at par. Orr matched his career-best round of 72 for the third time this fall.
Orr concluded Round 1 with five birdies and a top-10 finish, tying him with four others. He sits a stroke behind Lukas Crisp (-1) of Francis Marion for seventh place.
Sophomore A.J. Crouch (+3) completed Round One with a score of 75 and is tied for 26th overall finishing second on the roster, three strokes behind Orr.
Junior J.D. Tomlinson (+4) tied for 33rd after the opening round. Freshman Victor Tarnstrom (+5) sits behind Tomlinson by a stroke and is tied for 39th.
Alexander said he knows the team is better than how they played during the first round.
Florida will look forward to improve on the second day of competition as it is set to tee off at 8:40 a.m. Monday.
“The course was there for the taking, we played some solid golf for 12-13 holes and then the wheels came off,” Alexander said. “I think we will do better [Monday].”
Women in third: Day 1 of the last tournament for the fall season for the Florida women’s golf team commenced Sunday at The Alamo Invitational in San Antonio, Texas.
The Gators finished in third place shooting a score of 280 (-8). They sit behind tournament leader No. 11 Oklahoma (-10) and second place No. 7 Arkansas (-9).
“We got off to a nice start,” coach Emily Glaser said. “The course was scorable and the girls took advantage of the birdie opportunities they had.”
Junior Sarah Schober (-5) lead No. 19 Florida after finishing her first round tied for first place.
Schober matched her career high, shooting a score of 67 and making nine birdies.
Glaser said Schober played an outstanding round of golf and that she’s been working hard.
Two other Gators shot under-par at The Alamo. Redshirt sophomore Katie Mitchell (-2) is tied for 13th after day one and junior Camilla Hedberg (-1) finished tied for 18th.
The women’s team will play Round 2 on Monday at 9:30 a.m.
Follow Lawrence Laguna on Twitter @LagunaLawrence.
