No. 7 UF Men's Golf Seeking Strong Finish At SEC Championship This Weekend
Friday, April 18, 2008 | Men's Golf
The seventh-ranked University of Florida men's golf team, riding the momentum of three straight top-five finishes, opens postseason play this weekend, April 18-20, at the Southeastern Conference Championship in St. Simons Island, Ga.
The 54-hole event features 18 holes on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Tee times begin at 8 a.m. ET. Live scoring can be found at www.Gatorzone.com and www.Golfstat.com.
The par-72 Frederica Golf Club will be playing host to the event for the first time. The 7,217-yard Tom Fazio layout is one of the longest courses the Gators have played this season. The Seaside Course at the nearby Sea Island Resort had served as host to the league title the previous seven seasons.
Six of the nation's top 25 teams take to the elevated layout this weekend in arguably the most competitive conference tournament of the year. The nation's top two teams will be on hand in No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Georgia. Florida is the third-highest ranked SEC team at No. 7 followed by No. 9 Tennessee, No. 14 South Carolina and No. 16 Auburn. The Gators own a 16-13 record against the 12-team SEC field this season.
“The SEC is a different conference this year,” UF head coach Buddy Alexander said. “Alabama is ranked No. 1 and Georgia is No. 2. We have six of the top 15 teams in the country in our league that will compete against each other this weekend. Any of those six teams are capable of winning the conference championship. It should be a really great event.”
Florida enters the weekend playing perhaps its best golf of the spring season. The Gators posted a come-from-behind win in a 36-hole match against No. 10 Florida State on April 6 at the Glen Arven Golf Club in Thomasville, Ga. Florida's 30-under total of 546 bested the Seminoles by three shots. Prior to that, the Gators recorded a fourth-place finish out of 15 teams at the Hootie At Bulls Bay Intercollegiate and a runner-up showing out of 18 teams at the Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational.
“I am pretty excited about the way my team has played in recent weeks,” Alexander said. “We are looking forward to playing the SEC Championship.”
Four Florida players bring SEC Championship experience into the weekend with all four having played the event last season. Gator players occupy three of the top-five stroke averages in the league this season. Senior Tyler Brown (Jacksonville, Fla.) led all Gators in 2007 with a fourth-place score of 6-over 216 in Sea Island. Brown, who is ranked 29th in the nation, returns for his final conference tournament.
Junior Billy Horschel (Grant, Fla.), the reigning SEC Player of the Year, is ranked 26th in the nation. Horschel's scoring average of 71.13 is second in the league and the fourth-best mark in single-season stroke average in school history.
Sophomore Tyson Alexander (Gainesville, Fla.) is making his second straight appearance, and junior Toby Ragland (Jacksonville, Fla.) is appearing in his third conference tournament. Senior Manuel Villegas (Medellin, Colombia) will be making his SEC Championship debut. Villegas' steady play continued with a share of first place in the match against Florida State.
“He has been awesome,” Alexander said of Villegas. “He's been opposite of last year in that he has been extremely consistent. He has a great chance to make an All-America team because of his consistency. He hasn't been out of the top 20 at all in tournaments this year.”
Florida is seeking its 15th SEC Championship title and first since 2003. The Gators' 14 conference crowns represent the third-highest total in league history and trail only Georgia (26) and LSU (15). Florida placed fifth last year with a 54-hole total of 38-over 878. Tennessee won the league title last year by two shots at 29-over 869.
