The course was silent as Fred Biondi lined up his final shot, two putts away from the national title. With a deep breath, Biondi took the putt, rolling the ball slowly across the green, stopping inches from the hole. It was close enough. The hole was conceded. He was enveloped in a group hug as the team cried and celebrated. The Gators just won the 2023 national championship.
That was the story of last year's team. Following up the act and repeating as champions may prove to be an even greater challenge for this year’s Florida men’s golf team.
UF will face tough competition in its SEC slate with four teams in the NCAA top 10: No. 2 Vanderbilt, No. 3 Auburn, No. 6 Tennessee and No. 8 Ole Miss. The Gators also have to handle the loss of their prominent core group of senior All-Americans in Ricky Castillo, Biondi and Yuxin Lin.
The fall season was full of ups and downs for the young team. It finished ninth at its first tournament, the Fighting Illini Invitational, and seventh at the SEC Fall Preview.
The Gators quickly turned it around, finishing in the top 5 at the Williams Cup Oct. 10 and winning the Georgetown Intercollegiate Oct. 16. But the fall ended with disappointing match play losses to Florida State and Georgia Tech Oct. 30. at the East Lake Cup.
“I think the fall season was definitely a bit of a learning experience,” sophomore Matthew Kress said. “We lost the core of our team from last year and had a lot of new guys in the lineup.”
But Kress saw the adjustment as a positive experience.
“I don't think it's anything of a negative. I think it’s more of a positive,” Kress said. “A lot of guys took advantage of the offseason months, and I think we have a little bit of a fire burning right now.”
Despite a tough fall schedule, there were positives on the Florida roster. Kress, along with junior Ian Gilligan and redshirt freshman Luke Poulter were persistent parts of the lineup in all five fall tournaments.
Kress had a breakout fall season, finishing with team-bests in stroke average, top-10 finishes and top-25 finishes. He had the team's best finish in the fall and claimed first at the Georgetown Intercollegiate.
Gilligan, a transfer from Long Beach State, had the best team round of 65 in the fall as well as four top-25 finishes. At the Fighting Illini Invitational in September, he was the team's top finisher, tying for eighth place, and he recently finished first at the Patriot All-American Invitational Dec. 31.
Poulter made his collegiate debut this fall and has started in every tournament since. He had three top-25 finishes, with his best finish coming at the East Lake Cup tied for sixth.
“Luke Poulter…helped us a ton in the fall,” head coach J.C. Deacon said in an interview with WRUF. “He played really well as a redshirt freshman.”
All three players will be key pieces to the Gators team for the spring. However, the lineup for this upcoming season remains a mystery.
“I’m probably not 100% sold who the lineup is going to be,” Deacon said. “There’s still a lot to play for, but we're young and I think by March or April if these guys keep learning and getting more experience, we have a chance to be a pretty good team.”
Fifth-year John DuBois will also play a pivotal role for Florida’s team.
Although he only appeared in the lineup twice this fall, DuBois is experienced and earned an honorable mention as a PING All-American last season. He played in 12 tournaments during the 2022-23 season and secured the match-clinching point in the SEC Championship against No.1 Vanderbilt.
Currently, the Gators are ranked No. 21 according to the Golf Coaches Association of America. But the expectations and pressure that come with being the defending champions are not their focus.
“I don’t really take much time to worry about that,” assistant coach Dudley Hart said. “We just try to keep everybody focused on what we’re doing today and what we’re going to do tomorrow. I’m a firm believer that if you just keep stacking good practices on top of each other and keep learning on the mental side, good stuff is going to happen.”
Junior Ryan Hart, Dudley’s son, echoed his father’s sentiments about the message for this spring season.
“Just working hard,” Ryan Hart said. “Everyone just needs to keep their head down and keep pushing. People probably aren’t thinking that we’re as good as we were last year. But I think we just keep working hard and keep all that out.”
Florida will officially begin their season at the Pablo Creek Collegiate Cup Jan. 22. They will go up against Jacksonville University in match play.
The Gators will have a busy stretch ahead of them after the conclusion of the Pablo Creek Collegiate. They will head back to Jacksonville for the Sea Best Invitational Jan. 29 and then host the Gators Invitational Feb. 17.
UF will follow with the Southern Highlands Collegiate at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, the Schenkel Invitational at Georgia Southern and the Calusa Cup at Iowa. Lastly, Florida will defend its 2023 title at the SEC championship in April before the NCAA Regionals with hopes of qualifying for the national championships.
“Sometimes in golf, everybody has different things they have to work on,” Dudley Hart said. “But there’s also a lot of common things they have to maintain. Fortunately, we got a bunch of guys that want to get better and that’s exciting for us.”
The Pablo Creek Collegiate Cup began at 8 a.m. Jan. 22 at the Pablo Creek Golf Club in Jacksonville.
Contact Hannah Getman at hgetman@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @hannahgetman.
