M. Golf Wraps Up 2009 Fall Season At Isleworth Invitational
Friday, October 23, 2009 | Men's Golf
The University of Florida men's golf team will conclude its 2009 fall slate with a trip to Windemere, Fla. for the Isleworth Invitational, hosted by Texas Tech. The field will play 18 holes on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, teeing off at the par-72, 7,491-yard Isleworth Golf and Country Club. The Gators finished in second at the event in 2006, led by All-American Billy Horschel who also finished the tournament as runner up.
Florida will attempt to close out its fall season with a strong finish at Isleworth and head coach Buddy Alexander is prepared to take a more seasoned lineup to Winde?mere. The lineup consists of two seniors, two redshirt juniors and a freshman. Redshirt junior Andres Echavarria (Medellin, Colombia) and senior Tyson Alexander (Gainesville, Fla.) are the only two golfers to have competed in all three fall tournaments. Newcomer Phillip Choi (Orlando, Fla.) has qualified for the lineup in two of the last three tournaments. Senior Tim McKenney (Scottsdale, Ariz.) will suit up once again for the Orange and Blue after participating in the team's first event of the season and redshirt junior Robbie Wight (Palm Beach, Fla.) will be making his season debut for the Gators this weekend.
Six of the 15 teams in the field are ranked among the top 10 nationally, including top-ranked Oklahoma State. Arizona State (2/2), Illinois (3/6), Washington (4/3), TCU (5/20), Stanford (6/5) are ranked in the latest Golfweek/Golfstat polls. Florida (11/8), South Carolina (12/9) and Alabama (15/20) rank among the top 15, while tour?nament host Texas Tech (22/23), Clemson (23/22) and Georgia (24/24) round out the programs in the top 25. Traditional golf powers East Tennessee State, UCF and Ken?tucky complete the field.
As of Monday, 22 of the top 50 golfers in Golfweek's rankings will compete in the tournament, including second-ranked Trent Whitekiller of Oklahoma State. Arizona State, TCU and Oklahoma State each have three golfers among the top 50, while Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Texas Tech and Washington have two each. East Tennessee State, Florida and Stanford each have a golfer among the top 50.
Georgia enters the event as the reigning champion and has won four of the five titles since the tournament's inception in 2004. UGA's Russell Henley, last year's medalist, is among the tournament field this year.
The Gators have had a strong showing in their first two events of the fall, claiming a sixth place finish among a tough tournament field at the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational and tying for third at the Gary Koch Invitational almost two weeks ago. Three Gators have claimed career-best finishes thus far in 2009 with Andres Echavar?ria, Max Kieffer and Bank Vongvanij all earning top-10 finishes.
The Isleworth Invitational tees off at 8 a.m. with 18 holes being played on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Visit www.isleworthcollegite.com for all tournament information, including tee times, tournament history and live scoring.
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