Florida to Compete in Chris Schenkel Invitational
Thursday, March 19, 2015 | Men's Golf
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Florida men's golf team travels to Statesboro, Ga., this week to take on the 15-team field at the 36th Annual Chris Schenkel Invitational. Hosted by Georgia Southern, the tournament will run Friday-Sunday and will be played at the Forest Heights Country Club.
When the Gators tee off at the Forest Heights Country Club, it will mark the third Friday in a row in which the team has competed. On Sunday, the squad claimed seventh place at the Seminole Intercollegiate, highlighted by J.D. Tomlinson's top-10 individual finish.
Tomlinson will lead the Gator lineup, followed by A.J. Crouch, Ryan Orr, Ryan Celano and Eric Banks. Conor Richardson will make the trip as well to compete as an individual.
Head Coach JC Deacon
On the Chris Schenkel Invitational:
“I've never been to the tournament. I've heard it's a great event, but the only thing I care about is the guys taking care of the details in their lives, doing the little things right and having a good attitude. They can control all of those things, and we haven't been doing that well. Frankly, I've had enough of it, so, we're just going to base our performance off of that. I'm not worried about the score and the results. They're going to be graded on their attitudes, and they know that. We'll see how they react.”
On the quick turnaround between tournaments this week:
“It's tough. We've had four days in Gainesville out of the last 16, and that's tough for a student going to the University of Florida. They're getting such a great education, and to keep up on that and achieve the results that we're expecting them to is very difficult. I do emphasize with that, but at the same time, this is what they signed up for. This is what Division I golf entails. It's going to be busy, and it's going to be tough sometimes, and I'm starting to learn who is rising to the top through all this because adversity, as a coach, is a great thing. You learn the most about your players through that, and right now, I think especially this week, I'm really going to find out what this team's all about.”
Course Information: The Forest Heights Country Club course is a par-72, 6,962-yard course.
Tournament Information: The tournament will run Friday-Sunday, March 13-15, and is hosted by Florida State.
Format: Three-day, 54-hole tournament, with 18 holes played each day. Tee times begin Friday at 8:30 a.m.
The Gators' Lineup:
J.D. Tomlinson (Gainesville, Fla.)
A.J. Crouch (Jacksonville, Fla.)
Ryan Orr (Belleair, Fla.)
Ryan Celano (Naples, Fla.)
Eric Banks (Truro, Canada)
Conor Richardson (West Palm Beach, Fla.)*
*Denotes competing as an individual
Eyeing the Competition: The field consists of 15 teams from eight conferences. Three squads are ranked in the top 25 and two are ranked in the top five.
Tournament Field (Golfweek's Top 25):
UAB
Auburn (4)
UCF
College of Charleston
FLORIDA
Georgia Southern
Iowa
Kentucky
Louisville
Ole Miss
NC State
North Florida
South Alabama
Vanderbilt (5)
Wake Forest (16)
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 @GatorZoneGolf on Twitter and 'like' the University of Florida Men's Golf page on Facebook.
