Coming off the high of the 2025 SEC Championship, the No. 5 Florida men’s golf team took on the season opener in Sammamish, Washington. The Sahalee Players Championship featured three rounds of play over two days.
Florida’s competitors included the No. 3 University of Texas, No. 8 Arizona State University, No. 18 University of North Carolina, No. 22 Pepperdine, No. 24 University of Arizona, University of Oregon, University of California, Los Angeles, Northwestern University, University of Washington, San Diego State University and the U.S. National Development Program.
On Saturday, teams played two rounds of 18, and Florida earned a combined score of 19-over. The team began on a rocky start with a round one score of 18-over, with none of the players carding a score under par.
However, in the second round of the day, UF junior Jack Turner found his rhythm and finished the day tied in fifth place with the U.S. National Development Program’s Tyler Watts at 1-under.
His teammate, UF senior Matthew Kress, faced a similar turnaround. After a 5-over first round, he scored only one bogey on the second round of 18. With his birdie on the 4th hole, he ended the round even par.
Despite the players settling into the second round, the team failed to eat away at its first round deficit. After 36 holes, the Gators were 18-over in 10th place, seven strokes behind Arizona and UNC, who tied for eighth place.
Florida was unable to maintain momentum on the second day of competition. Turner posted his worst score of the weekend at 6-over, pushing him back to 20th place.
Kress found similar difficulties on the course and posted a score of 3-over par, ending the weekend tied for 30th place.
The team’s next tournament will be held September 19 to 21 in Chicago, Illinois. The University of Illinois will host the Fighting Illini Invitational at Olympia Fields Country Club. Last season, Florida finished in ninth place at the invitational with senior Parker Bell and former Gator Ian Gilligan finishing in the top 20.
Contact Brooke Bastedo at bbastedo@alligator.org. Follow her on X @BrookeBastedo.
Brooke is entering her third semester as The Alligator's golf reporter. She is a sophomore sports journalism student with a passion for international sports. She enjoys trying as many new hobbies as possible, spending time with friends and watching Detroit sports (Go Lions!).
