The Florida men’s golf team faced a climate shock while traveling to the NCAA Regional Tournament in Bremerton, Washington. Hailing from the Sunshine State, the Gators are used to May being filled with bright days and temperatures in the high 80s.
The tournament, hosted by the University of Washington, spanned over three dreary days. Despite the conditions, the Gators thrived.
"I think when the pressure gets the highest, I really believe that you revert back to your preparation and we have harping on them since August,” Florida coach J.C. Deacon said.
Florida is a blue blood program in the college golf community with 15 SEC Championships, three individual national championships and five team national championships.
Entering the tournament as the No. 8 team in the country, the Gators had high hopes. These expectations were far exceeded by the results.
Following round one of competition, redshirt sophomore Luke Poulter was tied for the lead of the tournament. His teammate, junior Matthew Kress, finished tied for third place, only one stroke behind the lead.
Poulter is one of Florida’s two golfers to win a tournament this season. He claimed his first collegiate victory at the Schenkel Invitational in March.
"For Luke, the moments never going to get the best of him,” Deacon said. “He has a great mindset for golf. Where he thinks he belongs, whether he does or not. He is made for this stuff."
On Monday, he birdied on five of the six holes between holes 6 and 11, moving him into the lead of the tournament.
Kress also managed back-to-back birdies during the stretch. Together, the two led the team to the top of the leaderboard on day one at 9-under.
The two other counting scores for the day, sophomore Jack Turner and senior Ian Gilligan, were also under par.
By the end of the day, all four players for the Gators were in the top ten individually. During round two, Florida advanced even further with the help of freshman Zack Swanwick.
After finishing the first 36-holes, the team achieved a score of 25-under. The final round two score recorded was 16-under for the four counting players.
It marked Florida’s lowest round since 2018. It gave the team a nine stroke lead over the second place sitter, No. 5 Arizona State, which entered the tournament as the one-seed.
Similar to day one, all four counting scores for the Gators were under par. Swanwick and Turner both shot a 2-under, adding to their lead.
On the final day of competition, Florida maintained its lead while finishing 28 strokes ahead of the cut. As per the NCAA guidelines, the top five finishers in each regional tournament move on to the championship tournament.
The other teams who punched their tickets to the championship are Arizona State, Utah, Colorado and South Carolina.
Utah senior Braxton Watts tapped in a birdie on hole 18 to win the individual tournament one stroke ahead of Kress.
Florida will make its fifth consecutive trip to the national championship tournament. Several players, including Kress and Poulter, were on the roster when the Gators won the 2023 National Title.
On May 23, the Gators will travel to Carlsbad, California, for the NCAA Championship. There the team will compete against the best in the country for the title of national champions.
Contact Brooke Bastedo at bbastedo@alligator.org. Follow her on X @BrookeBastedo.
