Friday, September 16
Chicago / Olympia Fields Golf Club
9 a.m. (18 Holes)
Florida Gators
at
OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational
In the season opener, six of the seven Gators competing finished in the top-25.
Stacked Field Next Up for Gators at Olympia Fields
Thursday, September 15, 2022 | Men's Golf
Florida continues the fall slate at the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invite this weekend.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Dates: Friday, Sept. 16 - Sunday, Sept. 18
Location: Chicago - Olympia Fields
Host: University of Illinois
Course Par/Yardage: 70 / 7,310 yards
Format: 18 hols each day
Tee Times: 9 a.m. ET on Friday and TBA on Saturday and Sunday
Scoring: Golf Stat
Social Media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
TEE OFF
The Florida men's golf team continues the fall slate at the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invite this weekend at Olympia Fields with a field that features last year's national champion, Texas, and runner-up, Arizona State.
FLORIDA LINE UP
No. 1 - Fred Biondi
No. 2 - John DuBois
No. 3 - Quentin Debove
No. 4 - Ricky Castillo
No. 5 - Yuxin Lin
COMPETING TEAMS
Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Army, Baylor, Florida State, Illinois (host), Indiana, North Carolina, Northwestern, Oklahoma State, Pepperdine, Stanford and Texas.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Gators have competed in the event seven total times with the most recent in 2021, where they finished T8th. Florida won the tournament in the fall of 2010 as current PGA Tour member Tyler McCumber turned in a Top-5 finish.
LAST TIME OUT
Florida started the season with a tournament victory in its first appearance at the Fighting Irish Classic. Entering the day with a two stroke lead, the Gators finished 21-under par to defeat Georgia Southern (-20), North Carolina (-19) and host Notre Dame (-16) at The Warren Golf Course. The team score ranks fourth lowest by score and tied for 14th in score by par in program history.
The victory also marked the 16th under head coach J.C. Deacon and six in the last three seasons.
Three Gators in the lineup finished in the top-10, led by Quentin Debove at T5. He went on to set career bests in round (65), tournament score (203) and finish. The junior held the medalist lead at one point as he was tied fourth in the field with 13 birdies. Tyler Wilkes (T13) and Matthew Kress (T26) finished first and second among individuals competing. Wilkes didn't own a round over par as he sank two eagles and placed 4-under overall. Kress sat at even for the tournament as he fired two rounds under par in his collegiate debut.
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.
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
The fall slate continues at SEC Match Play (Sept. 25-27) and concludes with the Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational (Oct. 3-4).
Dates: Friday, Sept. 16 - Sunday, Sept. 18
Location: Chicago - Olympia Fields
Host: University of Illinois
Course Par/Yardage: 70 / 7,310 yards
Format: 18 hols each day
Tee Times: 9 a.m. ET on Friday and TBA on Saturday and Sunday
Scoring: Golf Stat
Social Media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
TEE OFF
The Florida men's golf team continues the fall slate at the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invite this weekend at Olympia Fields with a field that features last year's national champion, Texas, and runner-up, Arizona State.
FLORIDA LINE UP
No. 1 - Fred Biondi
No. 2 - John DuBois
No. 3 - Quentin Debove
No. 4 - Ricky Castillo
No. 5 - Yuxin Lin
COMPETING TEAMS
Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Army, Baylor, Florida State, Illinois (host), Indiana, North Carolina, Northwestern, Oklahoma State, Pepperdine, Stanford and Texas.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Gators have competed in the event seven total times with the most recent in 2021, where they finished T8th. Florida won the tournament in the fall of 2010 as current PGA Tour member Tyler McCumber turned in a Top-5 finish.
LAST TIME OUT
Florida started the season with a tournament victory in its first appearance at the Fighting Irish Classic. Entering the day with a two stroke lead, the Gators finished 21-under par to defeat Georgia Southern (-20), North Carolina (-19) and host Notre Dame (-16) at The Warren Golf Course. The team score ranks fourth lowest by score and tied for 14th in score by par in program history.
The victory also marked the 16th under head coach J.C. Deacon and six in the last three seasons.
Three Gators in the lineup finished in the top-10, led by Quentin Debove at T5. He went on to set career bests in round (65), tournament score (203) and finish. The junior held the medalist lead at one point as he was tied fourth in the field with 13 birdies. Tyler Wilkes (T13) and Matthew Kress (T26) finished first and second among individuals competing. Wilkes didn't own a round over par as he sank two eagles and placed 4-under overall. Kress sat at even for the tournament as he fired two rounds under par in his collegiate debut.
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.
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
The fall slate continues at SEC Match Play (Sept. 25-27) and concludes with the Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational (Oct. 3-4).
Players Mentioned
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