Gators Set to Play in Nike Collegiate Invitational

Sunday, September 29

Portland, OR

ALL DAY

Florida Gators

Nike Collegiate Invitational

Gators Set to Play in Nike Collegiate Invitational

Friday, September 27, 2019 | Men's Golf

The Florida men's golf team will play in the Nike Collegiate Invitational beginning on Sunday, Sept. 29.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The Florida men's golf team is set to travel to Portland, Ore., for the Nike Collegiate Invitational. The event is hosted by Nike and runs from Sunday, Sept. 29 to Tuesday, Oct. 1.

Florida will be among a talented field in the City of Roses. Nine ranked programs are making the trip to the Pacific Northwest, including five top-10 teams - No. 3 Baylor, No. 4 Wake Forest, No. 7 Duke, No. 9 Oklahoma and No. 10 Texas.

Format
The teams will complete 54 holes of stroke play over three days of competition. Each round is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. ET.

Course Information
The tournament is being played on Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club's Witch Hollow course. The par 72, 7,017 yard course is consistently recognized as one of the top-100 courses in the nation.

How to Follow
Updates throughout the three-day event will be provided on GolfStat.com and Twitter via @GatorsGolf. A complete recap with full results will be posted on FloridaGators.com following each round.

Gators' Lineup
No. 1 - John Axelsen
No. 2 - Ricky Castillo
No. 3 - Quentin Debove
No. 4 - Chris Nido
No. 5 - Fred Biondi

The Field (Bushnell Golfweek Coaches Poll)
No. 3 Baylor
No. 15 Clemson
No. 7 Duke
Florida
No. 20 Georgia
Ohio State
No. 9 Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Oregon
No. 19 Southern California
No. 21 Stanford
TCU
No. 10 Texas
Vanderbilt
No. 4 Wake Forest

Tournament History
This is the fourth consecutive year that the Gators are competing in the Nike Collegiate Invitational. Last season, Florida placed sixth among a talented field with Eugene Hong and John Axelsen both notching top-25 individual finishes.

The Gators' best team performance at the event came in 2016 when they clinched second place.

Last Time Out
Junior John Axelsen finished second individually while the Florida men's golf team took seventh place among a talented field at the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational.

Axelsen played steady for the Gators the whole weekend. The junior shot even through the first two rounds, but making putts through the last 18 holes was what allowed Axelsen to climb five spots on the leaderboard and notch a second-place finish.

Axelsen ended the tournament at 3 under, one of only three players to finish under par. Axelsen's second-place finish also marks the highest individual finish of his career.

After shooting over par the first two days, Ricky Castillo found his footing during the final round. The freshman carded five birdies to finish the day at 2 under, putting him at 5 over for the tournament and tied for 24th individually, his second top-25 finish in as many outings.

Quentin Debove struggled to go low in the final two rounds of the event, but a solid 69 in round one kept him at 8 over overall and tied for 34th on the leaderboard.

In his first appearance in the Gators' lineup, John DuBois finished tied for 51st while sophomore Eugene Hong finished tied for 72nd.

Up Next
The Gators travel to Orlando, Fla., for the Tavistock Collegiate beginning on Sunday, Oct. 20.