Jorge Garcia walked to the first tee with confidence.
After a few minor swing changes the week before, the UF freshman was striking the ball as purely as ever and was set to play his best golf of the season at the Valspar Collegiate on Monday.
After Garcia sized up his tee shot at the 440-yard par-4 first hole, Round 1 was officially underway.
Double bogey. Bogey. Bogey. Double bogey. Bogey.
Not the start he envisioned after a solid week of preparation.
"Golf is a funny sport," Garcia said Thursday. "This is the best ball striking I’ve ever felt coming into a tournament this whole year, and I started 7 over through my first five holes."
He would never recover.
The Anaco, Venezuela, native had a tough time finding his way through the rough, hazards and sand traps of Palm City’s Floridian Golf Club, posting rounds of 76, 74 and 74 to finish at 11 over par and in a share of 50th place — the worst finish of his career.
Garcia said he had a difficult time off the tee on the challenging 6,999-yard, par-71 course. Incorporating swing changes can be a difficult experience during tournament play. Add windy conditions and a tough golf course, and it can become devastating.
"Once the wind started picking up, I think I had a couple demons in my head," Garcia said. "The driver that I’ve been playing, it’s harder for me to shape it right-to-left, and I was hitting my irons right-to-left… I’m seeing right-to-left flight on a lot of shots, and I hit it a little right and it just becomes a big miss."
Garcia wasn’t the only Gator to struggle, though.
Freshman Sam Horsfield, who was coming off a win in his last event at the Southern Highlands Collegiate on March 9, failed to crack the top 10 for the first time since the Tavistock Collegiate in October. He finished in a tie for 20th at 5 over par.
Other than Garcia and Horsfield, no other Florida player finished inside the top 65, resulting in the first last-place finish in second-year head coach J.C. Deacon’s career.
Deacon said that not only was the Valspar his first last-place finish of his career at Florida, but it was his first last-place finish ever — as a coach and as a player.
"If you’re not at your best, you’re going to get pounded" Deacon said of the Gators’ last-place finish. "It’s embarrassing. There’s absolutely no exception for the University of Florida to come last in a golf tournament... That’s just not how we’re gonna do business."
Deacon added that he hopes his players can use this recent disappointment as fuel for the rest of the season. He attributed the players’ lack of focus during preparation as the main reason for their poor play.
With only one event left before the Southeastern Conference Championship, the time to figure things out is dwindling. The Gators head to Franklin, Tennessee, to compete in the Mason Rudolph Championship on April 2 and 3.
"They’re already using it (as motivation)," Deacon said. "I know that it upset the guys on the team as much as it upset me, and they’re ready to bounce back in (Franklin) and let everyone know what we’re really all about."
Contact Ray Boone at rboone@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @rboone1994.
UF golfer Jorge Garcia.
