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Thursday, March 28, 2024
<p>J.D. Tomlinson swings during Day 1 of the SunTrust Gator Invitational on Feb. 14 at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.</p>

J.D. Tomlinson swings during Day 1 of the SunTrust Gator Invitational on Feb. 14 at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.

The UF men’s golf team will play in the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship on Friday, and the team is eager to bounce back from adversity.

Before the regional competition, first-year coach JC Deacon gave each team member a bouncy ball and it has become a symbol of resiliency for the program.

"Always keeping a positive attitude no matter what happens," senior J.D. Tomlinson said. "If things come your way that you aren’t expecting, don’t look at it in a negative way, look at it in a positive way. Turn it into a positive. Bounce back from it.

"He gave us a bouncy ball before regionals and he said ‘Be a bouncy ball. If something happens, bounce back’ and I kept it in my bag the whole week."

The Gators needed the bounce-back mentality to keep their season alive.

During Round 2 of the Chapel Hill Regional, only senior Eric Banks improved on his first round score and the Gators fell from second to fourth.

With only the top-five teams moving on from the regional field, the team’s season was on the line. On the final day of the tournament, the Gators posted the second-lowest team score to lock up their spot in the National Championship.

"I would say we are one of the most resilient teams out there," Deacon said. "All these guys, they just keep fighting. …I know these guys can handle adversity now, and we’re going to face it next weekend. It’s nice as a coach to know these guys aren’t going to quit even if things aren’t going well."

The Gators are one of 15 teams that qualified for the final tournament of the season.

Florida did not qualify for the Regional or National tournaments last year.

"I took it for granted after those first two years," Tomlinson said. "It was my first two years in college, and it seemed like we breezed through. We got second both years at regionals by like one shot and I’m thinking ‘We’re going to breeze through every year. I’m going to play in the national championship every year.’ and then we don’t even make regionals. So I went with Buddy (Alexander) individually, I mean it was fun to do that, but it wasn’t the same. It’s not even close."

Follow Ryan Summers on Twitter @RyanSummers18

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J.D. Tomlinson swings during Day 1 of the SunTrust Gator Invitational on Feb. 14 at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.

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