No. 9 Florida Men's Golf Heads West To Southern Highlands Collegiate
Thursday, March 6, 2008 | Men's Golf
The ninth-ranked University of Florida men's golf team makes its third stop of the spring season as the Gators compete at the Southern Highlands Collegiate Championship this weekend, March 7-9, in Las Vegas.
The 54-hole tournament features 18 holes on Friday, Saturday and Sunday with tee times getting underway at 11 a.m. ET. Live tournament scoring can be found at www.golfstat.com.
The Southern Highlands Collegiate marks the second straight tournament UF will play in that feature's one of the elite fields in all of collegiate golf. Eight of the participating 15 teams are ranked in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index Top 25. Four of the nation's top five teams will be in attendance – No. 1 Georgia, No. 3 Charlotte, No. 4 Oklahoma State and No. 5 UCLA. Tournament host UNLV is ranked No. 22.
“This will definitely be the best field that we will play this spring,” said UF head coach Buddy Alexander. “I think maybe only the Preview (Invitational) in the fall would have a field this good.”
Additionally, the event features 14 of the nation's top 30 golfers. Junior Billy Horschel (Grant, Fla.) will be joined by two fellow U.S. Walker Cup teams members, including Rickie Fowler of Oklahoma State and Jamie Lovemark of USC.
Southern Highlands Golf Club will play to a par-72 7,380 yards. A co-design of Robert Trent Jones, Sr. and Robert Trent Jones, Jr., the track served as co-host of the PGA Tour's former Invensys Classic.
“This is a great golf course,” said Alexander. “It is a lot of fun to play with really fast greens, a lot of water and a lot of risk-reward shots. We have played well out there in the past.”
Florida owns one win in eight appearances at Southern Highlands. The Gators have posted top-five finishes at the event in three out of their last four starts. UF placed 10th as a team at last year's event with a three-round total of 898 (+34). Horschel shot a final-round 74 (+2) to finish in a tie for third.
The Gators are returning to action since earning a share of fifth place at the John Hayt Invitational on Feb. 19. Florida posted a 25-over total of 898 to tie with No. 3 Charlotte. UF left the Sawgrass Country Club on a positive note with a final-round 288, which represented the lowest round of any team in the field.
“I knew I would learn a lot about my team after the Sawgrass tournament,” said Alexander. “We had the high round of the day on the second day and the low round of the day on the last day. In 30 years of coaching, I have never seen a turnaround quite like that.”
Alexander will go with the lineup of junior Will Strickler (Charlottesville, Va.), senior Tyler Brown (Jacksonville, Fla.), senior Manuel Villegas (Medellin, Colombia), Horschel and junior Toby Ragland (Jacksonville, Fla.) this weekend.
Strickler is coming off of his first career runner-up finish at the John Hayt Invitational. Strickler, who played as an individual, carded a 2-under total of 214 to earn a spot in this weekend's rotation. The finish lifted him to a top-50 individual rating by Golfweek.
“I think you can count on Will Strickler being in the lineup for awhile,” said Alexander. “He's now played in three or four very solid tournaments. It is a great to see him come on. He seems to be blossoming into a very solid player, and we need that.”
Brown and Horschel are tied for the team lead in scoring average at 71.17. Brown, who owns six rounds to his credit, fired an even-par 216 to place seventh at the John Hayt. Horschel took 38th with a 226 but still ranks fifth in the SEC in scoring average.
Villegas' steady play has earned him a No. 38 national ranking in the Golfweek/Sagarin individual ratings. The senior is ninth in scoring average in the SEC at 71.94, and he leads the squad with three tournaments at or under par.
Ragland is making his sixth start of the season and first since the SunTrust Gator Invitational when he finished in a tie for 26th. Ragland's scoring average of 72.50 ranks fifth on the team, and he is third on the squad at rounds at or under par with six.
