The Florida men’s golf team needed a near-perfect Day 3 to keep its season alive and advance to the NCAA Championships.
It had nowhere near that, posting the fourth-worst round of the day and concluding its season in Pullman, Washington, on Wednesday.
“Today ends a very frustrating season. Every year our expectations are to win championships and we did not meet those expectations this year,” coach JC Deacon said in a release. “I think this will add fuel to the fire for the 2019-20 season.”
The Gators entered the final day of the Pullman Regional Tournament in eighth place, needing a top-five finish to advance. Palouse Ridge, however, gave the Florida golfers trouble throughout the day, with only one of the five finishing under par. The team dropped to finish in a tie for ninth place and shot 2 under in its final round of the tournament.
Sophomore Chris Nido excelled for Florida in his best round of the tournament. He had a bogey-free day, posting five birdies along the way (four of those coming on the back nine) to finish the tournament at 9 under. Nido’s individual finish was the highest of any Gator, finishing on the leaderboard tied for seventh.
Sophomore John Axelsen finished the tournament at 4-under and tied for 27th place after an even final day. He tallied two birdies and a bogey in a three hole stretch on the front nine, before carding three bogeys in five holes to set himself back.
Senior Gordon Neale stayed in the middle of the pack with his 2-over final round, giving him a 53rd place finish with a 3-over three round total. Neale notched two birdies on holes four and seven but wouldn’t card another for the remainder of the round. He tallied four bogeys in his last UF appearance.
Redshirt senior Ryan Celano began the round with three consecutive bogeys, resulting in a 3-over front nine. Celano improved on the back nine with two birdies, giving him a 1-over finish on the round and overall.
Redshirt junior Blake Dyer rounded out the tournament with Florida’s toughest day on the links. Dyer carded two double-bogeys, along with three additional bogeys for a 6-over final round. The redshirt junior entered the day just 1 over for the tournament, but finished tied for 57th place at 7 over.
Texas A&M, BYU, Oklahoma, Georgia Tech and Colorado State were the five teams to advance from the Pullman Regional, while Florida, along with eight other schools, went home empty handed.
“We are looking forward to a clean slate and getting the University of Florida back to where we belong, at the top of college golf,” Deacon said.
Follow Victor Prieto on Twitter @victorprieto_11 and contact him at vprieto@alligator.org
The Florida men's golf team was eliminated from the NCAA Regionals on Wednesday.
