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Thursday, March 28, 2024
<p>UF's Gordon Neale hits a shot during the SunTrust Gator Invitational on Feb. 18, 2017, at the Mark Bostic Golf Course.&nbsp;</p>

UF's Gordon Neale hits a shot during the SunTrust Gator Invitational on Feb. 18, 2017, at the Mark Bostic Golf Course. 

After two straight finishes outside of the top three, Florida bounced back and stole a win at the Schenkel tournament on March 19. Now, coach J.C. Deacon says the team is closer than ever to its top form.

“I’m so excited about what’s going on with the guys. They’ve really come together like I haven’t seen since I’ve been here in Gainesville,” Deacon said in a release. “They’re tight, they’re pushing each other, and we’re close to being our best.”

Following the win, the Gators are hoping to ride their momentum to another victory, this time at the Mason Rudolph Championship in Nashville, Tennessee. In order to do that, the Gators will have to go through top-ranked Vanderbilt at its home course. Twelve other teams will compete this weekend, as well, including Alabama and Missouri, which are both ranked in the top 50.

“We’re excited about going to Vanderbilt’s home course. They’re such a phenomenal program and team. They’ll be a really, really tough test.” Deacon said. “The guys know we have our work cut out for us, but at the same time, we are excited for the opportunity.”

A win this weekend will give the Gators their fifth victory of the season, which would tie for the most wins in a season since 2010-11. To do that, the Gators will need some high-end performances from some of their key players. Last year, Sam Horsfield and Gordon Neale, who are in the lineup this year, took the top two spots in the same tournament.

“I know a lot of guys have some good experiences and feelings from last year playing really well.” Deacon said. “The guys are excited to get back, and hopefully, we can move up the leaderboard that one spot we missed out on last year (when the team finished second).”

Andy Zhang, Ryan Orr and Alejandro Tosti will join Horsfield and Neale in the lineup.

Tosti will rejoin the lineup after being held out of the Schenkel last week and could give the Gators another boost going into the weekend. He has four top-10 finishes this season.

Ryan Celano will also compete as an individual. Celano shot 6-over at the Schenkel as an individual, which tied him for 42nd.

The team will tee off this morning, starting with Tosti around 9:20. Horsfield will be the last one in the team lineup to take the course around 10 a.m., while Celano will tee off sometime around 10:25.

Contact Justin Ahlum at jahlum@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @justinn_case1.

UF's Gordon Neale hits a shot during the SunTrust Gator Invitational on Feb. 18, 2017, at the Mark Bostic Golf Course. 

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