Florida Men’s Golf Gears Up for Fall Finale
Sunday, October 25, 2015 | Men's Golf
The No. 17 University of Florida men's golf team begins its final tournament of the fall season when it tees off at the Homewood/Hilton Garden Airport & FGCU Classic on Monday. FGCU will host the two-day event at the Old Corkscrew Golf Club in Naples, Fla.
Florida had a strong showing at the 2014 FGCU Classic, where redshirt-junior A.J. Crouch took home the individual tile and the team finished as the runner-up.
Junior Ryan Orr sits atop the UF lineup this week. He currently owns the team's best stroke average, 71.56, and has been Florida's top finisher in two of its last three tournaments.
Next is freshman Sam Horsfield, the only Gator to already pick up a pair of top-five finishes this year. Holding the squad's best round of the season at 6-under par, freshman Jorge Garcia will play in the No. 3 spot.
Competing in the fourth lineup spot is sophomore Alejandro Tosti, who tied for 16th in last week's Tavistock Collegiate. 2014 FGCU Classic Champion Crouch will anchor the Orange and Blue lineup in his 2015-16 season debut.
Senior Richard Donegan, redshirt-junior Conor Richardson, sophomore Ryan Celano and freshmen Blake Dyer and Kyler Tate will participate as individuals.
Head Coach JC Deacon
On how the team is working to improve:
"We're going to try to make the practice round a little more competitive, instead of just going out there and whacking the ball around and not really thinking about we're doing. We're going to put something on the line and make them focus on what they're doing. Hopefully, that gets them more into a mode where they can feel those competitive juices a little bit and get used to the course in a competitive manner, instead of just going through the motions."
On taking 10 Gators to the tournament:
"It was a unique opportunity that rarely comes up in college golf where a tournament has enough room for essentially two teams, but I think the guys have earned this right. Their attitudes have been so much better this year. Their work ethic has been really good, and they're really growing the program. I can come in here and tell them what to do, but they're the ones that have to do it. They've lived up to it, so it's kind of a reward for everyone."
Course Information: The Old Corkscrew Golf Club is a par-72, 7,025-yard course.
Tournament Information: The tournament will run Monday-Tuesday and is hosted by FGCU.
Format: The event is a three-day, 54-hole stroke tournament, with 36 holes played on Monday and 18 played on Tuesday.
The Gators' Lineup:
Ryan Orr (Belleair, Fla.)
Sam Horsfield (Davenport, Fla.)
Jorge Garcia (Anaco, Venezuela)
Alejandro Tosti (Rosario, Argentina)
A.J. Crouch (Jacksonville, Fla.)
Ryan Celano (Naples, Fla.)*
Richard Donegan (Okeechobee, Fla.)*
Blake Dyer (St. Petersburg, Fla.)*
Conor Richardson (West Palm Beach, Fla.)*
Kyler Tate (Winter Garden, Fla.)*
*Denotes competing as an individual
Eyeing the Competition: The field consists of 11 teams. The Orange and Blue are the only SEC squad and the only top-25 team.
Tournament Field (Golfweek Ranking):
Bethune-Cookman
Creighton
Eastern Kentucky
FAU
FGCU
FLORIDA (17)
Georgetown
Jacksonville State
Ohio
Stetson
UCF
Follow the Gators: Live scoring will be available on GolfStat.com. 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 @GatorsGolf on Twitter, follow @gatorsmgolf on Instagram and 'like' the Florida Gators Men's Golf page on Facebook.
Players Mentioned
