Florida Tees Off NCAA Championship on Friday
Thursday, May 28, 2015 | Men's Golf
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Florida men's golf team aims to prove itself among the best teams in the country when it challenges the field at the NCAA Championship this week.
The 29th-seeded Gators are looking to exceed expectations once more after earning their spot at the national championship tournament by placing fourth in the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional, four places higher than their projected seed.
NCAA Championship play tees off Friday at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla. The tournament opens with three rounds of stroke play Friday through Sunday before the field is cut to the top-15 teams and nine individuals on non-advancing teams.
Those who survive the cut will compete in a final round of stroke play Monday, after which the individual champion will be crowned. The top eight teams will then advance to match play to determine the team champion, with the quarterfinal and semifinal matches scheduled for Tuesday and the championship match slated for Wednesday.
J.D. Tomlinson will lead the Florida lineup for the final time, as he wraps up his collegiate career in Bradenton. The senior collected 10 top-25 finishes this season, highlighted by three top-five performances. A second-team All-SEC performer, Tomlinson holds the team's best stroke average (71.47).
Ryan Celano is coming off of his best to-par tournament score of the year at the NCAA Regional. He also recorded his lowest round as a Gator at the Chapel Hill, N.C., event. Meanwhile, Ryan Orr posted career-low numbers as well in his most recent outing, carding a 4-under 68 during the last round of Regional play.
Similar to Tomlinson, Eric Banks will be competing in his final tournament as a Gator. Banks has broken into the top-25 five times this season, most recently at the SEC Championship.
A.J. Crouch will complete the lineup for the Orange and Blue. He earned UF's highest finish at the NCAA Regional by tying for ninth place. He's the only member of the Florida squad to win an individual title this season.
Course Information: The Concession Golf Club is a par-72, 7,483-yard course.
Tournament Information: The tournament will run Friday-Wednesday, May 29-June 3, and is hosted by the University of South Florida.
Format: The 30 teams and six individuals will complete 54 holes of stroke play Friday-Sunday. The field will then be cut to the top 15 teams and top nine individuals on non-advancing teams, who will compete during an additional day of stroke play on Monday. The individual 74-hole stroke-play champion will be crowned at the conclusion on Monday's round, and the top eight teams will advance to match play to determine the team champion.
Florida at the NCAA Championship
- Since the NCAA Regional competition inception in 1989, Florida has advanced to the NCAA Championship 25 of 27 times
- The Gators have made a total of 50 appearances in the NCAA Championship
- In the Orange and Blue's last showing in 2013, UF finished 25th
- Florida has won the NCAA Championship four times: 1968, 1973, 1993 and 2001
- Two Gators have been national champions in the individual contest: Bob Murphy in 1966 and Nick Gilliam in 2001
The Gators' Lineup:
J.D. Tomlinson (Gainesville, Fla.)
Ryan Celano (Naples, Fla.)
Ryan Orr (Belleair, Fla.)
Eric Banks (Truro, Canada)
A.J. Crouch (Jacksonville, Fla.)
Eyeing the Competition: The field consists of 30 teams, who earned their spots after placing in the top five at six regional sites around the country. The six individuals qualified by being the best golfer in each region on a non-advancing team.
NCAA Championship Field
- Florida State
- Texas
- Arizona State
- Illinois
- Vanderbilt
- South Carolina
- LSU
- Oregon
- Texas Tech
- Georgia Tech
- Stanford
- Oklahoma
- South Florida
- UAB
- Charlotte
- Washington
- Auburn
- UCLA
- Southern California
- Oklahoma State
- Virginia
- SMU
- TCU
- San Diego State
- UNLV
- Georgia
- Houston
- Clemson
- 29. FLORIDA
- Duke
Individuals
- Robin Sciot-Siegrist, Louisville
- J.T. Poston, Western Carolina
- Kyle Mueller, Michigan
- David Oraee, Colorado
- Gudmundur Kristjansson, East Tennessee State
- Tolver Dozier, Troy
Head Coach JC Deacon
On the team's progress this season en route to qualifying for the NCAA Championship:
“We have come so far, and I'm so impressed and proud of what the guys have done, but it's taken a lot of hard work. I've asked them to change a lot of things – in not only their golf games, but their lives – and for us to clutch up and get through Regionals was a special experience not only for me, but for the whole team as a group.”
On expectations entering the NCAA Championship:
“My message was that a lot of people didn't expect us to make it this far, especially after our start. No one was expecting us to be this good of a team, and I think the guys just need to continue what we've been building. We plan to go down there as a group, enjoy it as a team and soak in the atmosphere because the NCAA does a great job putting on a really good tournament.”
“We're the 29th-ranked seed in the tournament out of 30 teams. We have nothing to lose, and if we play our best golf, I know that we can fit in right there with the top teams in the country, so that's what I hope we do. I'm looking forward to watching the guys play at the highest level.”
TV Coverage: The Golf Channel will televise the NCAA Men's Golf Championship, with live coverage beginning on Monday.
Monday, June 1:
3-4 p.m. pregame coverage
4-7 p.m. final round live coverage
7-8 p.m. postgame coverage
Tuesday, June 2:
9:30 -10:30 a.m. pregame coverage
10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. live coverage, quarterfinals
3-3:30 p.m. pregame coverage
3:30-7 p.m. live coverage, semifinals
7-8 p.m. postgame coverage
Wednesday, June 3:
1-3 p.m. pregame coverage
3 p.m.-7 p.m. live coverage, championship match
7-8 p.m. postgame coverage
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.
