Florida Opens Up Play at Ben Hogan Collegiate Monday

Monday, October 3

Fort Worth, Texas / Colonial Country Club

9:15 (36 Holes)

Florida Gators

Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational

Florida Opens Up Play at Ben Hogan Collegiate Monday

Saturday, October 1, 2022 | Men's Golf

Live Scoring

Eight of the 16 teams in the field were quarterfinalists at the 2022 NCAA Championships.

By: Matthew Hutchison

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Dates: Monday, Oct. 3 - Tuesday, Oct. 4
Location: Fort Worth, Texas - Colonial Country Club
Host: Texas Christian University
Course Par/Yardage: 70 / 7,204 yards
Format: 36 holes Monday and 18 holes Tuesday
Tee Times: 9:15 a.m. ET on Monday and TBA Tuesday
Scoring: Golf Stat
Social Media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

TEE OFF
The Florida men's golf team travels to one of the top tournaments of the fall at the Ben Hogan Collegiate.

LINEUP
No. 1 - Quentin Debove
No. 2 - John DuBois
No. 3 - Ricky Castillo
No. 4 - Fred Biondi
No. 5 - Yuxin Lin

COMPETING TEAMS
Arizona State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Pepperdine, Stanford, TCU (host), Texas, Texas Tech, USC, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Known as the Nike Collegiate prior, the Gators make their sixth appearance with the last in 2022. Florida's best finish came in the fall of 2016 when they took second in their first-ever outing in the tournament.

LAST TIME OUT
The Gators wrapped up the final day of the SEC Match Play with a 3-2 victory over Mississippi State. Once again, John DuBois was clutch for the Gators in conference match play. Last year the SEC Individual Champion won the match-clinching point in 19 holes to send Florida to the SEC Match Play Finals for the first time in program history. His match vs. Harrison Davis featured nine holes halved. After going back and forth during holes 12-15, DuBois went ahead 1-up with a birdie on 17. Then they both recorded par on 18, clinching the victory for Florida.

A SEASON AGO
After a bumpy start early in the fall, the Gators concluded with a top-5 finish which carried momentum into the spring with back-to-back victories to start. The latter included winning the VyStar Gators Invitational for the 28th time and third consecutive en route to Fred Biondi tying the tournament record at 196 (-14) for his first career collegiate title.

The spring featured eight straight top-5 finishes with a runner-up performance at the SEC Championship and advancing to the match play finals for the first time in program history. John DuBois laid claim to the SEC Individual Championship for his first collegiate victory.

Florida secured its 32nd NCAA Regional bid and took a third place finish to advance its 55th appearance in the National Championships. On day three of stroke play, the Gators used late birdies on the back nine to make the first cut. UF concluded the season with a 10th place finish and only seven strokes from making match play. The finish marked the highest under head coach J.C. Deacon and best since a 9th place performance in 2007.

TOUR U
Following a breakout season, Fred Biondi earned the No. 1 ranking in the preseason PGA TOUR University Velocity Global Class of 2023 Rankings as a total of four Gators placed in the top-25. The next three Florida golfers were ranked in consecutive order with Ricky Castillo (No. 19), John DuBois (No. 20) and Yuxin Lin (No. 21) as the four selections were the most of any school as both North Carolina and Pepperdine had three.

Currently, Biondi holds the No. 2 spot with Ricky Castillo No. 16, John DuBois at No. 20 and Yuxin Lin at No. 21.

PRESEASON NODS
Prior to the start of their senior seasons, Fred Biondi and Ricky Castillo were named to the Preseason Haskins Award Watch List. The award is considered the most prestigious award in collegiate golf, and is presented annually to the most outstanding male golfer.

THE CHAMP
Winning his first collegiate title, John DuBois became the 25th Gator to win the SEC Individual Championship, which is the most by any school in the conference. He tied for the third-lowest round (64, -6) in SEC history as concluded the stroke play portion of the tournament setting career lows in round (64), tournament score (204) and best finish (1).

The native of Windermere, Fla., followed his historic performance by sending the Florida men's golf team to the SEC Championship Finals with his victory on the playoff hole in the semifinals vs. No. 1 Texas A&M. He teed off the 18th 1-down and won the hole to force extras. DuBois nearly eagled the hole (565 yards, par 5) as he two putted from seven feet for another memorable moment. The junior went 2-1 in the match play portion of the SEC Championship as he played in all 27 rounds for the first time in his career.

ROOKIE GATORS
Florida welcomed four newcomers this season in Parker Bell (Tallahassee, Fla.), Toby Bishop (Wales, United Kingdom), Will McGriff (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) and Luke Poulter (Orlando, Fla.).

GATOR GREAT COACHES
Last fall, 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.

To start last spring, Deacon again took the program to another level with the addition of Gator Great and former FedEx Cup Champion, Billy Horschel, as a volunteer assistant coach. He was a four-year (2006-09) member of the Gator golf team, three-time (2006-07, 2009) first-team All-American and two-time (2007 & 2009) SEC Player of the Year with over 280 professional outings.

THE TURN
Florida concludes the fall at the Isleworth Collegiate (Oct. 23-25).