1993 NCAA Golf Champs to be Honored on Silver Anniversary During LSU Game
Wednesday, October 3, 2018 | Men's Golf, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Ponder this, if just for a moment.
When the University of Florida men's golf team won the 1993 NCAA Championships, it marked the first national title for any UF program since the women's golf team went back-to-back in 1985-86, and the ninth in school history. In the 25 years since, the Gators have added 31 more, including a big ol' Bowl Championship Series trophy in 2008.
Members of that '08 football team will be at Spurrier/Florida Field for Saturday's clash against LSU, as part of a 10-year anniversary salute to Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin, Brandon Spikes and friends.
But about 25 minutes before kickoff, another anniversary will be recognized. UF Athletic Hall of Fame coach Buddy Alexander and members of that '93 team will reunite this weekend for a silver-anniversary celebration of the squad that claimed its title in stunning and dramatic fashion.
"I've only got two [NCAA titles], so they're both pretty damn special, but that first one? You're only going to have one that's the first," Alexander, now 65 and retired in Auburn, Ala., said Wednesday. "I'm indebted to those guys and the fact they worked really hard to get us over that hump."
Coach Buddy Alexander hoists the hardware after claiming his first NCAA title in 1993.
It went down to the hole. The final putt.
When Florida sophomore Chris Couch stepped to the 18th tee box on the final hole, the specter of a shaky second round and bogies on four of the previous nine holes were dancing in his head.
Oh, and a Georgia Tech hotshot by the name of David Duval stood a few feet away.
The Gators were in a three-way tie with the Yellow Jackets and North Carolina, with one very nasty hole — they called it "Waterloo" — left at the Champions Golf Club at Lexington, Ky. Duval, the future PGA star, was tied for the individual lead as well, and was carrying himself with all the confidence of someone who was about to win two titles; one for him, one for his team.
UNC's Lance McEntee removed the Tar Heels from contention by slicing his drive into a long lagoon on the right.
But Duval followed with an uncharacteristic yank into a bunker on the left, which left Couch with a wide-open fairway. Couch flew that same bunker and rolled into the rough.
Those who follow golf closely may know the story of what followed; and it's aftermath. Duval, who would go on to win nine PGA events (and once shots a 59 on the final day of a tournament), cut out the next-day's newspaper story in The Louisville Courier-Journal detailing his collapse and kept it in his wallet for years to come.
Duval's shot out of the bunker clipped the lip and came to rest 35 feet short of the green. Couch, in the thick stuff, hit a pitching wedge on the screws and lifted it 155 yards onto the green. After watching the ball land, Couch turned to a friend in the gallery.
"That was the best shot of my life," he said.
Back to Duval, a masterful short-game player, who needed to get up and down to force a playoff.
He chili-dipped short of the green.
Moments later, Couch stood over a 4-foot to give the Gators the tournament and the title. He was three-over for the day and had missed five near-identical putts during the round. He'd shot a 4-over 76 the day before and was a big reason UF had given away its two-stroke lead on the field and let Georgia Tech storm from 13 shots down.
Duval, with a bogie, stood and stared.
Off the green, Alexander couldn't help but think of how, all during the week, Couch had "piddled around" with a cross-handed putting grip, and even used it on a few holes in the third round to try to get his touch back. Then, to Alexander's surprise, he watched Couch slip a glove on his hand. Alexander had never seen his player putt with a glove.
Couch, with knees knocking, drained the clincher.
"What the hell were you doing?" Alexander asked him later through a huge grin.
"Coach, my hands were sweating so bad, I needed the glove to hold the club," Couch said.
No problem, Champ.
Chris Couch is mobbed by teammates after sinking the clinching putt at the 1992 NCAA Championships.
Alexander praised the all-around team effort, with UF finishing seven-under at 1,145 to Georgia Tech's six-under (1,147) and North Carolina's 5-under (1,148). Guy Hill, the 1993 Southeastern Conference individual champion, shot 69 to finished third at 1-under for the four rounds. Couch was an overall seventh (even par), with Brian Gay and Brad Lehmann tied for 17th at (plus-3 and 291) — the Gators needed Lehmann's clutch 67 on the final day — and John Pettit checking in at 49th.
"That '93 team, those guys had a particularly good chemistry," said Alexander, who notched his second NCAA crown eight years later with the 2001 squad. "Gay was a quiet leader. Couch was sort of a boisterous, fun-loving leader in a different sort of way. But, man, when it came time to play those guys loved to get after it and compete."
A handful of those players will be on on the field to take a bow, a quarter-century and a bunch of championships from a bunch of different UF sports later.
Florida Women's Basketball | Jade Weathersby GOES UP STRONG for the And-One 💪Florida Women's Basketball | Jade Weathersby GOES UP STRONG for the And-One 💪
