Gators Eager to Compete in Lone Home Tournament
Friday, February 13, 2015 | Men's Golf
By Madison Schultz
GatorZone Writing Intern
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- For 37 years, the University of Florida has invited golf teams from around the country to compete in the SunTrust Gator Invitational. It's been four years since the home team defended its turf.
And because UF only hosts one tournament a season, it only makes sense that senior J.D. Tomlinson wants to win it. Tomlinson, a Gainesville local, has the Orange and Blue's best stroke average (73.13) and three top-25 finishes this year.
“It's going to be special,” he said of the tournament Florida last captured in 2011, back when he was a senior at Gainesville's Oak Hall School. “We haven't won the Gator since I've been here, so that would be a great way to end my career here.”
Senior teammate Eric Banks paralleled those sentiments.
“It hasn't really hit me yet, but I'm sure it will after,” Banks said of his last crack at taking home the hardware on UF's Mark Bostick Golf Course. “My parents and one of my uncles is coming into town, so it'll be nice to see them and wrap it up.”
Besides family helping give the event a homey kind of feel, it will mark the first home tournament for the UF course since it underwent more than a half-million dollar renovation and upgrade last summer, including the regrassing of all greens with state-of-the-art Ultradwarf turf.
The work was done in time for the UF men's and women's teams to enjoy and practice during the season, but now the Gators can show it off to the SunTrust men's field this weekend, with the women's competition scheduled for March 6-8.
The Florida men are coming off back-to-back second-place finishes, most recently at the Sea Best Invitational earlier this month. In that one, Banks was not in the team lineup but placed fourth individually with a score of 216, his best mark of the season. This weekend, he'll compete in the No. 4 spot.
“It's pretty tough to pull someone out of the lineup who finished in the top five,” head coach JC Deacon said. “He earned it.”
This weekend, the Gators will be competing against 13 other schools, three of which are in Golfweek's Top 25, including third-ranked Florida State.
“I know a lot of kids on their team really well. I've been playing with them since I was 14 or 15 years old,” said A.J. Crouch of Jacksonville, who owns the Gators' only individual first-place finish this year, having won the FGCU Classic in October with a 2-under 214. “They're really great players, and I'm sure they'll be giving me a run for my money this week.”
Deacon isn't worried about hosting the higher-ranked teams, seeing it more as a measuring stick to see where his squad compares.
“These guys are really starting to mature and understand that they can compete,” Deacon said. “The good results help you know that you do belong with the best teams in the country.”
Crouch said with the knowledge of the course, the Gators have a chance to win both as a team and individually, even with two freshmen competing in the tournament: Alejandro Tosti in the lineup and Ryan Celano as an individual.
“They're both really great players,” Crouch said. “Wherever they play, they're fun to watch.”
Last week, Crouch carded a 2-over 212 to earn runner-up honors at the Sea Best Invitational, located in his hometown. Beginning Saturday, he'll get to compete at another home -- this time his team's Mark Bostick Golf Course.
Deacon thinks the team is more than prepared, as he and assistant coach John Handrigan know the Gators can take advantage of their familiarity with the course.
He believes that if the team goes about the same processes as the last two tournaments and really embraces the weather conditions -- as in cold, very cold -- then it should be ready to compete.
“It's cliché,” Deacon said, “but we need to take it one shot at a time and really focus on getting off to a good start and having endurance throughout the whole day.”
