Wednesday, April 20
St. Simons Island, Ga. / Sea Island Golf Club Seaside Course
8:20 a.m. (18 Holes)
Florida Gators
at
SEC Championship
Sophomore Tyler Wilkes will make his second SEC Championship appearance after setting his career best finish (T10) and tying low round (67) this year.
SEC Championship Ahead for No. 12/16 Gators
Tuesday, April 19, 2022 | Men's Golf
Florida begins post season play on Wednesday at 8:20 a.m. with the first round of stroke play.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Dates: Wednesday, April 20 - Sunday, April 24
Location: St. Simons Island, Ga. - Sea Island Golf Club
Host: Southeastern Conference
Course Par/Yardage: 70 / 7,005 yards
Format: 54-hole stroke play (18-18-18) and Match Play (3 matches)
Tee Times: 8:20 a.m. ET on Wednesday and TBA other days
Live Scoring: Golf Stat
Watch: Saturday (Semifinals) and Sunday (Finals)
Social Media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
TEE OFF
The No. 12/16 Florida men's golf team opens up postseason play at the SEC Championship on Wednesday with a round tee time of 8:20 a.m. ET.
FLORIDA LINE UP
No. 1 - Ricky Castillo
No. 2 - Fred Biondi
No. 3 - Yuxin Lin
No. 4 - John DuBois
No. 5 - Tyler Wilkes
Alternate - Quentin Debove
FORMAT
The 2022 event will mark the fifth consecutive in which the championship will feature both stroke and match play, with match play on Saturday (Quarterfinals and Semifinals) and Sunday (Championship). Three rounds of stroke play will occur the opening three days of the championship with the top-8 teams advancing to single-elimination match play.
THE FIELD (Golfstat / Golfweek Rankings)
No. 42/ 38 Alabama, No. 10/11 Arkansas, No. 15/15 Auburn, No. 16/12 Florida, No. 12/10 Georgia, No. 63/67 Kentucky, No. 25/19 LSU, No. 21/24 Ole Miss, No. 57/57 Mississippi State, No. 45/45 Missouri, No. 22/28 South Carolina, No. 18/22 Tennessee, No. 19/16 Texas A&M and No. 3/4 Vanderbilt.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Gators ranked third all-time in the SEC with 15 conference championships and last won in 2011. Florida won its first title in 1955 and defended it the following season. From 1988-1996, UF claimed five championships including four consecutive from 1991-1994. The other fours years they finished runner-up and third twice.
In the match play portion, Florida is 2-2 all-time with victories over South Carolina (2017) and Ole Miss (2018).
BIONDI BREAKOUT
Redshirt junior Fred Biondi has posted a breakout season in the spring both for the Gators and on the national stage. He first set waves when finished runner-up at the Latin America Amateur Championship (LAAC) to start the spring. Biondi followed up with tying the tournament record (196, -14) to win his first collegiate title and lead the Gators to its third straight VyStar Gators Invitational title.
He won his second career title in the spring final and has been named SEC Golfer of the Week twice and Golf Week Player of the Week. Bionid leads the team with a stroke average of 69.7, four under-par tournaments, 4.2 birdies per round and average relations to par of -1.6 (18 holes) and -4.8 (54 holes).
Earlier today, he became the first Brazilian player to be a participate for the Arnold Palmer Cup.
LAST TIME OUT
The Florida men's golf team finished runner-up behind Biondi's second win of the season. The finish also marked the Gators sixth consecutive top-5 finish this year as all five in the lineup placed in the top-25 in a field that featured seven of the top-25 teams in the nation, including No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 8 Georgia.
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
Florida will await its NCAA Regional (May 16-18) destination on May 4 with the selection show airing on Golf Channel at 4 p.m.
Dates: Wednesday, April 20 - Sunday, April 24
Location: St. Simons Island, Ga. - Sea Island Golf Club
Host: Southeastern Conference
Course Par/Yardage: 70 / 7,005 yards
Format: 54-hole stroke play (18-18-18) and Match Play (3 matches)
Tee Times: 8:20 a.m. ET on Wednesday and TBA other days
Live Scoring: Golf Stat
Watch: Saturday (Semifinals) and Sunday (Finals)
Social Media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
TEE OFF
The No. 12/16 Florida men's golf team opens up postseason play at the SEC Championship on Wednesday with a round tee time of 8:20 a.m. ET.
FLORIDA LINE UP
No. 1 - Ricky Castillo
No. 2 - Fred Biondi
No. 3 - Yuxin Lin
No. 4 - John DuBois
No. 5 - Tyler Wilkes
Alternate - Quentin Debove
FORMAT
The 2022 event will mark the fifth consecutive in which the championship will feature both stroke and match play, with match play on Saturday (Quarterfinals and Semifinals) and Sunday (Championship). Three rounds of stroke play will occur the opening three days of the championship with the top-8 teams advancing to single-elimination match play.
THE FIELD (Golfstat / Golfweek Rankings)
No. 42/ 38 Alabama, No. 10/11 Arkansas, No. 15/15 Auburn, No. 16/12 Florida, No. 12/10 Georgia, No. 63/67 Kentucky, No. 25/19 LSU, No. 21/24 Ole Miss, No. 57/57 Mississippi State, No. 45/45 Missouri, No. 22/28 South Carolina, No. 18/22 Tennessee, No. 19/16 Texas A&M and No. 3/4 Vanderbilt.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Gators ranked third all-time in the SEC with 15 conference championships and last won in 2011. Florida won its first title in 1955 and defended it the following season. From 1988-1996, UF claimed five championships including four consecutive from 1991-1994. The other fours years they finished runner-up and third twice.
In the match play portion, Florida is 2-2 all-time with victories over South Carolina (2017) and Ole Miss (2018).
BIONDI BREAKOUT
Redshirt junior Fred Biondi has posted a breakout season in the spring both for the Gators and on the national stage. He first set waves when finished runner-up at the Latin America Amateur Championship (LAAC) to start the spring. Biondi followed up with tying the tournament record (196, -14) to win his first collegiate title and lead the Gators to its third straight VyStar Gators Invitational title.
He won his second career title in the spring final and has been named SEC Golfer of the Week twice and Golf Week Player of the Week. Bionid leads the team with a stroke average of 69.7, four under-par tournaments, 4.2 birdies per round and average relations to par of -1.6 (18 holes) and -4.8 (54 holes).
Earlier today, he became the first Brazilian player to be a participate for the Arnold Palmer Cup.
LAST TIME OUT
The Florida men's golf team finished runner-up behind Biondi's second win of the season. The finish also marked the Gators sixth consecutive top-5 finish this year as all five in the lineup placed in the top-25 in a field that featured seven of the top-25 teams in the nation, including No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 8 Georgia.
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
Florida will await its NCAA Regional (May 16-18) destination on May 4 with the selection show airing on Golf Channel at 4 p.m.
Players Mentioned
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