Florida Opens Up Three Tournament Stretch

Monday, October 4

Fort Worth, Texas / Colonial Country Club

9:30 a.m. (36 Holes)

Florida Gators

Colonial Collegiate Invitational

Fred Biondi finishes his swing at the tee box

Florida Opens Up Three Tournament Stretch

Friday, October 1, 2021 | Men's Golf

Live Stats

The Gators tee off at the Colonial Collegiate on Monday, Oct. 4.

By: Matthew Hutchison

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Dates: Monday, Oct. 4 and Tuesday, Oct. 5
Location: Colonial Country Club - Fort Worth, Texas
Host: TCU
Course Par/Yardage: 70/7,204-yards
Format: 54-Hole Tournament (36 Monday, 18 Tuesday)
Tee Times: TBA
Live Scoring: Golf Stat
Social Media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

FLORIDA LINE UP:
No. 1 - Ricky Castillo
No. 2 - Yuxin Lin
No. 3 - John DuBois
No. 4 - Joe Pagdin
No. 5 - Christophe Stutts

TEE OFF
Florida men's golf begins it's start of three consecutive weekly tournaments at the Colonial Collegiate Invitational on Oct. 4-5 in Fort Worth, Texas.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Known as the Nike Collegiate prior, the Gators make their fifth appearance with the last in 2019. Florida's best finish came in the fall of 2016 when they took second in their first ever outing in the tournament.

THE FIELD (GolfWeek.com Top 25 Rankings)
#2 Oklahoma, #5 Clemson, #7 Oklahoma State, #9 Texas, #12 Stanford, #14 Texas Tech, #18 Vanderbilt, #19 Georgia, #21 Pepperdine, #22 Florida, Baylor, Oregon, San Diego State, Wake Forest, TCU (host) and USC.

LAST TIME OUT
UF began the season at the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational and finished eighth. The first round of the season was highlighted by a hole-in-one from Yuxin Lin on the eighth hole (200 yards).

PRESEASON RANKINGS & RECOGNITION
The Gators earned preseason recognition and were selected 8th in the Golf Channel/Golf Weekly and T17th by GCAA Preseason Polls. Ricky Castillo was 4th overall in the Top 30 Preseason Players by Golf Channel/Golf Weekly.

COACH DUDLEY
On Wednesday, Sept. 15, head coach J.C. Deacon announced the addition of Dudley Hart as the next assistant coach. The Gator Great spent the last four seasons as the volunteer assistant coach. He was four-time All American, the 1987 SEC Freshman of the Year and a two-time PGA Tour winner.

NEW GATORS
The Florida men's golf team added two new faces this season in Miguel Leal (Guatemala City) and Matthew Kress (Saratoga, Calif.) Leal won the 2020 Billy Horschel Junior Championship and was a two-time winner (2019-20) of the Central American Junior Tournament. Kress attended Bellarmine College Prep and shot 11-under par to win the FCG Encinitas Junior Championship. He was a 2018 First Team All-League WCAL and helped his school win the 2018 WCAL Championships.

THE TURN
The Orange and Blue head to the SEC Match Play Championship at Shoal Creek Golf Course (Birmingham, Ala.) from Oct. 10-12 and wrap up the fall at the Isleworth Collegiate (Oct. 17-19).