Florida Men’s Golf to Conclude Fall Season at FGCU Classic
Saturday, October 25, 2014 | Men's Golf
The University of Florida men's golf team begins its final fall tournament this week, when the Gators compete at the Homewood/Hilton Garden Airport & FGCU Classic at the Old Corkscrew Golf Club beginning Monday.
Florida Gulf Coast University will host the 14-team, two-day tournament in Estero, Fla.
The Orange and Blue lineup includes seniors J.D. Tomlinson and Thomas Stewart, junior A.J. Crouch, sophomore Ryan Orr and freshman Ryan Celano. Junior Richard Donegan and freshman Ramsey Touchberry will compete as individuals.
The Gators wrapped up their most recent tournament less than a week ago, when they notched season-low scores in their 11th-place finish at the Tavistock Collegiate Invitational in Orlando.
Assistant Coach John Handrigan
On the tournament field:
“We're playing with Florida State the first day, and they won the tournament we just played in, last week at the Tavistock (Collegiate Invitational). They're playing well, and an in-state rival, so it's going to be good to go head-to-head with them the first two rounds of this tournament since the first day is 36 (holes).”
On the importance of competing well in the final fall tournament:
“It's always great to go out on a good note, and that's our main goal here. It would be great to go out with a win, but it's a field we definitely think we can with win or come in the top two. Playing against our in-state rivals is going to be a lot of motivation for these players. If we can get off to a good start playing with them and finish the (fall) season on a good note, that'll go a long way it the spring.”
On the team's progress throughout the fall season:
“This past week, we didn't finish as good as we wanted, but the team played very well, and we've made a lot of progress from that first tournament at The Farm. This past week, we had a couple of guys that played really, really well – J.D. (Tomlinson) finishing tied for third with the 66 the last day was impressive. The guys are doing well and definitely improved quite a bit in the last two months, so I feel that we're moving in the right direction. This week will be a good week to continue in that direction.”
Course Information: The Old Corkscrew Golf Club is a par-72, 7,393-yard course.
Tournament Information: The tournament will run from Monday-Tuesday, Oct. 27-28, and is hosted by Florida Gulf Coast University.
Format: Two-day, 54-hole tournament with 36 holes played Monday and 18 played Tuesday.
The Gators' Lineup:
Senior J.D. Tomlinson (Gainesville, Fla.)
Freshman Ryan Celano (Naples, Fla.)
Senior Thomas Stewart (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.)
Junior A.J. Crouch (Jacksonville, Fla.)
Sophomore Ryan Orr (Belleair, Fla.)
Freshman Ramsey Touchberry (Bradenton, Fla.)*
Junior Richard Donegan (Okeechobee, Fla.)*
*Denotes competing as individuals.
Eyeing the Competition: The field consists of 14 teams from 11 conferences. Florida State is ranked as No. 2 in Golfweek's latest ranking.
Tournament Field (Golfweek's Top 25):
Arkansas State
Ball State
Bethune-Cookman
Florida Atlantic
FGCU
FLORIDA
Florida State (2)
Loyola (Md.)
Miami (Ohio)
Murray State
Ohio
Saint Mary's
St. John's
Stetson
Follow the Gators: Scoring will be available after each round. A complete recap with full results will be posted on GatorZone.com following the day's play.
For complete coverage of the Gators' men's golf program, visit GatorZone.com, follow @GatorZoneGolf on Twitter and 'like' the University of Florida Men's Golf page on Facebook.
