No. 1 Gators Men’s Golf finished runner-up at the Sahalee Players Championship, falling 28 strokes short of first-place Oklahoma State. In the opening tournament of the 2026-27 season, Florida notched its second runner-up finish in Seattle in the last three seasons.
The twelve-team competition featured nine top-30 teams. Oklahoma State was the only team to go under, finishing with a -4 total. Florida wrapped up at +24, only two strokes ahead of the host of the tournament, Washington. This was a massive improvement for head coach J.C. Deacon and the Gators, as they shot +34 in the 2025 tournament.
The Gators were led by Jack Turner (7th) and Parker Sands (T9). Turner shot +2 through 54 holes of play. The senior’s seventh-place ranking marks his 17th career top-10 finish.
Meanwhile, Sands earned his seventh top-10 finish. He shot two under in the first round, clocking an eagle on the 18th hole. But a +4 finish in round two, capped off by going two over in the final round, slid him down on the leaderboard to a two-way tie for ninth. But Sands finished strong. He didn’t bogie a single hole on the back nine in the final round.
A strong start was the story for Florida. The Gators were only two strokes over after round one, but amassed 22 extra strokes to finish the tournament. It was a fall from grace, but lucky for Florida, the other teams fell too. All except for Oklahoma State.
In round two, Jack Turner and Luke Poulter both shot +1, but the Gators still ended up at +10, a worse finish than six of their other opponents. Poulter then had a disastrous round three, shooting six over. The senior finished in a tie for 25th.
Below him on the leaderboard, Trevor Gutschewski finished in a tie for 27th, Parker Severs finished in a tie for 41st and Noah Kent, who played as an individual, ended in a tie for 51st.
The Gators will only get four days of range sessions and team meetings before the Fighting Illini Invitational Friday. The three-day, 15-team tournament at Olympia Fields County Club will feature top-10 programs like Arizona State, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and LSU.
Contact Bob Sager at bsager@alligator.org. Follow him on X at @bobsager808.
