With one putt, senior Gordon Neale put a merciful end to day one of the Carpet Capital Collegiate for the Gators.
Neale and the rest of the team had a rough first day of the tournament, finding themselves tied for 11th place in a 15-team tournament and 21 strokes behind leader Tennessee.
The senior had an eventful, up-and-down round that was more down than up. He had two birdies and an eagle in the front nine, but they were accompanied with two bogeys, two double bogey, and a triple bogey. He settled down over the back nine, but he was still four over for the round and finished tied for 49th.
The debut of freshman Aden Ye was the biggest positive of the day for the Gators. Ye struggled through the front nine, shooting three strokes over par. However, over the last nine holes of the day, he had two birdies and finished two strokes over par over 18 holes, good enough to be tied for 36th.
Ye’s score would be the best of the day for the Gators, however. No UF player finished in the top 25 or ended with a score under par on Day 1.
Sophomore Manny Girona looked strong coming out of the gate with three birdies and finishing the front nine in a tie for ninth. However, a back nine that saw zero birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey doomed his round, and he fell to a tie for 43rd with a three over.
Compounding a difficult day on the course was the absence of John Axelsen. The sophomore is currently representing his home country of Denmark at the World Amateur Team Championships in Ireland.
Freshman Eugene Hong made his collegiate debut as well, scoring a five over. Sophomore Chris Nido and senior Ryan Celano, competing as an individual, both carded a four over.
You can follow Brendan Farrell on Twitter @Bfarrell727 or contact him at bfarrell@alligator.org.
Gordon Neale finished over par for the second day in a row at the Tavistock Collegiate Invitational with a 5-over round on Monday. UF dropped from fifth to 10th and no Gator broke even in the second round.
