LAS VEGAS, Nev. --Â Through 18 holes of play at the Southern Highlands Collegiate, the Gators lead the field by three strokes.
Led by a 3-under par 69 from freshman
John Axelsen, Florida carded a 282 (-6) to open up play in Las Vegas. The Denmark native poured in five birdies on day one while finishing bogey free over the final 11 holes of play.
Axelsen enters day two tied for fourth on the individual leaderboard.
One stroke back of him is freshman
Chris Nido and junior
Gordon Neale. Nido was as low as 6-under par after going bogey free the first 13 holes but, finished 2-under and is tied for eighth along with Neale.
The Gators took advantage of the par fives in the opening round as they finished 9-under which was four strokes better than the next closest team.
Competing as an individual for the second straight event,
Won Jun Lee turned in a 3-under 69 and is tied with Axelsen for fourth on the individual leaderboard.
Round two of the competition starts tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. (ET).
Coach's Take
On the Gators play today --Â "We got off to a nice start today and executed our game plan as well as we could have hoped for. Southern Highlands provides a demanding championship setup that tested our patience and course management. The boys did a great job of selecting targets and adjusting to the firm and fast conditions." -- Assistant Coach
Mark Leon
On the play of Axelsen, Nido and Lee -- "The highlight of the day had to be our three freshmen all breaking par in their first go around -- absolutely incredible stuff. It was really nice to see all the hard work we've put in after the Gator pay off." -- Leon
On the rest of the tournament -- "This event is far from over and on a course like this we have to keep trying to be the most patient team in the field if we want to get the job done." -- Leon
Final Scores:
Team
| 1 |
Florida |
282 (-6) |
| 2 |
UNLV |
285 (-3) |
| 3 |
TCU |
287 (-1) |
| 4 |
Pepperdine |
288 (E) |
| T5 |
UCLA |
290 (+2) |
| T5 |
Illinois |
290 (+2) |
| T5 |
Alabama |
290 (+2) |
| T8 |
Oklahoma |
293 (+5) |
| T8 |
Southern California |
293 (+5) |
| T8 |
Washington |
293 (+5) |
| 11 |
Texas Tech |
294 (+6) |
| 12 |
UCF |
295 (+7) |
| 13 |
Northwestern |
296 (+8) |
| 14 |
BYU |
299 (+11) |
| 15 |
SMU |
305 (+17) |
Florida Individual
Also competingÂ
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