Sunday, March 20
Eatonton, Ga. / Great Waters Golf Club
9:15 a.m. (18 Holes)
Florida Gators
at
Linger Longer
Gator Great and assistant coach Dudley Hart and Yuxin Lin at the 45th VyStar Gators Invitational
Linger Longer Next Up for No. 17/19 Gators
Friday, March 18, 2022 | Men's Golf
Two tournaments remain for the Gators before the SEC Championships in April.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Dates: Sunday, March 20 - Tuesday, March 22
Location: Great Waters Golf Course - Eatonton, Ga.
CoHost: Kennesaw State University and Mercer University
Course Par/Yardage: 72 / 7,436 yards
Format: 54-hole strokeplay (18-18-18)
Tee Times: TBA
Live Scoring: Golf Stat
Social Media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
TEE OFF
The Florida men's golf team heads to the Linger Longer at Great Waters Golf Couse for the Linger Longer starting on Sunday.
FLORIDA LINE UP
No. 1 - Ricky Castillo
No. 2 - Fred Biondi
No. 3 - Yuxin Lin
No. 4 - John DuBois
No. 5 - Quentin Debove
Indv. - Joe Pagdin
THE FIELD (Golfstat / Golfweek Top-25)
No. 4/5 North Carolina, No. 6/8 Vanderbilt, No. 10/11 Georgia, No. 19/ No. 17 Florida, No. 22/23 Clemson, Alabama, Augusta, Charlotte, Chattanooga, Kennesaw State (Co-host), Mercer (Co-host), Toledo, UNCG, USF, Virginia.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Gators will make their first-ever appearance in the Linger Longer.
LAST TIME OUT
The Florida men's golf team finished fourth at 20-under in the Southern Highlands Collegiate as No. 1 and last year's national runner-up, Oklahoma (-38) won the event as the field featured nine of the nation's top-35 teams.
Fred Biondi led the Gators again with a runner-up finish at 11-under for the event. He sank an eagle on hole three and went 2-under for his six straight round under-par. The junior has ended -14 and -11 in the last two outings.
WEEKLY SPOTLIGHT
After a career outing in the spring opener, John DuBois was named the first SEC Men's Golfer of the Week. Florida laid claim to the weekly honor again as Fred Biondi was tabbed the award after his victory at the Vystar Gators Invitational.
Biondi was selected as the Golfweek Player of the Week for his performance along with Florida named the Golfweek Team of the Week. The native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, was also ranked No.2 in the second March Arnold Palmer Cup Rankings.
GATOR GREAT COACHES
In the 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 the 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 282 professional outings.
OFF-SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
Fred Biondi rode the momentum into the off-season and finished tied for runner-up at the 2022 Latin Ameria Amateur Championship (LAAC). In his fourth consecutive appearance at the tournament, his 65 (-7) in round three on moving day tied the tournament course record and moved him into second on the final day, jumping 14 spots. With the performance, Biondi will be exempt into the final stages of qualifying for The Open and the U.S. Open Championship.
Concluding his 2021 strong, Quentin Debove had a runner-up finish at the Dixie Amateur and T3 outing at the Sunshine State Am. Freshman Matthew Kress started the new year with a 5-under top-15 placement in the Saguaro Am Series and a trio of Gators had rounds in the 60's to make the cut at the South Beach Am in John DuBois (67), Biondi (68) and Tyler Wilkes (69).
Both Joe Pagdin and Wilkes got to compete in marque tournaments as Pagdin represented Team England at The Spirit and Wilkes competed in the Patriot All-America, honoring fallen heroes.
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.
NEW GATORS
The Florida men's golf team added two new faces this season in Miguel Leal (Guatemala City, Guatemala) 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
UF wraps up the regular season at the Calusa Cup in Naples from April 3-5 and then heads to the SEC Championships (April 20-24) at St. Simons Island.
Dates: Sunday, March 20 - Tuesday, March 22
Location: Great Waters Golf Course - Eatonton, Ga.
CoHost: Kennesaw State University and Mercer University
Course Par/Yardage: 72 / 7,436 yards
Format: 54-hole strokeplay (18-18-18)
Tee Times: TBA
Live Scoring: Golf Stat
Social Media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
TEE OFF
The Florida men's golf team heads to the Linger Longer at Great Waters Golf Couse for the Linger Longer starting on Sunday.
FLORIDA LINE UP
No. 1 - Ricky Castillo
No. 2 - Fred Biondi
No. 3 - Yuxin Lin
No. 4 - John DuBois
No. 5 - Quentin Debove
Indv. - Joe Pagdin
THE FIELD (Golfstat / Golfweek Top-25)
No. 4/5 North Carolina, No. 6/8 Vanderbilt, No. 10/11 Georgia, No. 19/ No. 17 Florida, No. 22/23 Clemson, Alabama, Augusta, Charlotte, Chattanooga, Kennesaw State (Co-host), Mercer (Co-host), Toledo, UNCG, USF, Virginia.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Gators will make their first-ever appearance in the Linger Longer.
LAST TIME OUT
The Florida men's golf team finished fourth at 20-under in the Southern Highlands Collegiate as No. 1 and last year's national runner-up, Oklahoma (-38) won the event as the field featured nine of the nation's top-35 teams.
Fred Biondi led the Gators again with a runner-up finish at 11-under for the event. He sank an eagle on hole three and went 2-under for his six straight round under-par. The junior has ended -14 and -11 in the last two outings.
WEEKLY SPOTLIGHT
After a career outing in the spring opener, John DuBois was named the first SEC Men's Golfer of the Week. Florida laid claim to the weekly honor again as Fred Biondi was tabbed the award after his victory at the Vystar Gators Invitational.
Biondi was selected as the Golfweek Player of the Week for his performance along with Florida named the Golfweek Team of the Week. The native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, was also ranked No.2 in the second March Arnold Palmer Cup Rankings.
GATOR GREAT COACHES
In the 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 the 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 282 professional outings.
OFF-SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
Fred Biondi rode the momentum into the off-season and finished tied for runner-up at the 2022 Latin Ameria Amateur Championship (LAAC). In his fourth consecutive appearance at the tournament, his 65 (-7) in round three on moving day tied the tournament course record and moved him into second on the final day, jumping 14 spots. With the performance, Biondi will be exempt into the final stages of qualifying for The Open and the U.S. Open Championship.
Concluding his 2021 strong, Quentin Debove had a runner-up finish at the Dixie Amateur and T3 outing at the Sunshine State Am. Freshman Matthew Kress started the new year with a 5-under top-15 placement in the Saguaro Am Series and a trio of Gators had rounds in the 60's to make the cut at the South Beach Am in John DuBois (67), Biondi (68) and Tyler Wilkes (69).
Both Joe Pagdin and Wilkes got to compete in marque tournaments as Pagdin represented Team England at The Spirit and Wilkes competed in the Patriot All-America, honoring fallen heroes.
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.
NEW GATORS
The Florida men's golf team added two new faces this season in Miguel Leal (Guatemala City, Guatemala) 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
UF wraps up the regular season at the Calusa Cup in Naples from April 3-5 and then heads to the SEC Championships (April 20-24) at St. Simons Island.
Players Mentioned
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Gators Invite Recap 2-16-25
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