Last year, he shot the lowest round and tournament of his college career. This year, his team is looking for more.
Sam Horsfield, the soon-to-be pro and current sophomore for the Gators’ golf team, shot a 63 during his first round of the 2016 SunTrust Gator Invitational. That score was good enough to tie for the tournament low during a round.
However, because of a strong third round from South Florida’s Rigel Fernandes, Horsfield settled for second despite the fact that he also recorded his lowest tournament score at any event in his career with a 201 over three rounds.
Now, Horsfield and his Gator teammates will look to continue their two-tournament win streak into their lone home tournament of the season at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.
Along with Horsfield, four other Gators will take the course when they tee off on Saturday.
Alejandro Tosti, who has placed in the top three in his past three tournaments, has the lowest 18-hole average on the team (69.90). He’s been able to rebound after a poor tournament at the Carpet Capital Invitational, when he finished in a tie for 53rd place and shot 7 over. Since that weekend, Tosti has shot 17 under in his past three events. He said that his golf game has been “really good lately,” and the only thing he’s been struggling with is “my mental part.”
Jorge Garcia, the sophomore from Anaco, Venezuela, has two top-10 finishes on the year.
Gordon Neale is the team leader in rounds at even or under par with 10, and Ryan Orr, the lone senior taking the course this weekend, is coming off of his first individual win as a Gator at last week’s tournament at Sea Best in Ponte Vedra.
Coach J.C. Deacon continues to believe in his team after consecutive tournament wins.
“We’re in good shape, and the guys have been training all year on how to prepare for tournaments.” Deacon said. “So it’s not too much different this week.”
The Gators will be joined on the course by fourteen other teams this weekend, including in-state rival Florida State and No. 11 Wake Forest.
Tosti said in a phone interview that the team has been playing really well, but there is a little added pressure to play at home. “We play here only once a year,” he said. “And it’s kind of interesting because you feel that little extra pressure knowing that all the people are here, and they want you to win and the team to do good.”
The Gators will tee off tomorrow for the SunTrust Gator Invitational and play two rounds back-to-back before playing the final round on Sunday.
Contact Justin Ahlum at jahlum@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @justinn_case1.
Sam Horsfield lines up a shot to start the third round of the SunTrust Invitational on Feb. 21, 2016, at UF's Mark Bostic Golf Course.
