Monday, October 30
Atlanta, GA / Atlanta Athletic Club
11:30 a.m. (18 Holes)
Florida Gators
at
East Lake Cup
Luke Poulter had a team-high finish in 1-under T6 performance in the stroke play portion of the East Lake Cup.
Gators set for East Lake Cup Semifinals vs. Florida State
Monday, October 30, 2023 | Men's Golf
Live coverage begins tomorrow on Golf Channel begins at 3 p.m.
ATLANTA — The Florida men's golf team is set for match play in the semifinals of the East Lake Cup vs. Florida State on Tuesday after finishing fourth in stroke play on Monday.
The Gators and Noles will meet in a semifinals rematch after Florida defeated FSU in the NCAA Championship semifinals at Grayhawk in the summer in extra holes. Live coverage starts at 3 p.m. on Golf Channel. The winner will face the winner of North Carolina (No. 2) and Georgia Tech (No. 3), which is also a rematch at last year's semifinals in Scottsdale.
Luke Poulter led the Gators in the stroke-play portion of the event. The redshirt freshman shared a tie for the lead after a 5-under (par-eagle-par-birdie-birde) five-hole stretch over holes 8-12. He then went par-birdie-par with some great putts in the next three to remain tied with the eventual individual winner, Kale Fontenot of Georgia Tech. However, a bogey and double over the remaining holes finished Poulter 1-under tied for sixth.
A stroke separated the next three in the lineup. Matthew Kress regrouped from three consecutive bogeys with back-to-back birdies on 11 and 12. He then set up for a tap-in birdie on 18 after an approach shot that nearly bounced it for eagle. Kress shot an even-par 72 to place tied for eighth.
Ian Gilligan was one of four Gators to string birdies on 11 and 12. He was consistent most of the day at Atlanta Athletic Club and turned in a 71 (+1) to tie for 11th.
The rest of the lineup featured Parker Bell tied for 16 and Tyler Wilkes in 19th.
Quotes
Q. First off, congrats on a great day today. How do you feel your boys played?
COACH J.C. DEACON: You know, obviously Luke played great all day and unfortunately had a double on the last there that was a painful way to finish, but he had a great round. Then Ian and Matt Kress were really solid. Matt had an awesome finish birdieing the last, so that was nice. Just way too many double, triple and quadruple bogeys, just too many big numbers. But we hung in there OK and got a chance to make up for it in match play tomorrow.
Q. And what's going to be the focus going into match play?
COACH J.C. DEACON: Well, we've actually played a lot of really good match play the last few years, so it's just not giving away holes. I think that's the biggest thing is trying to be in every hole, hit as many fairways as you can, as many greens and hopefully the putters get hot. We've got a really good Florida State team we've got to try and beat.
Q. And is there anything about this golf course in particular that stuck out to you today that you think you'll be able to tell your team going into match play?
COACH J.C. DEACON: Yeah, you've got to really think your way around here and be on the right side of the hole. I think the conditions are going to continue to get more difficult as the week goes on. I like that. We've played pretty well in bad weather, so it's going to be a good test. Tough conditions against a tough team, but I think we've got a chance.
Q. And last one for you, what do you take your team's mindset to switch it from stroke play to match play?
COACH J.C. DEACON: Yeah, it is different, for sure, but at the end of the day if you can shoot 2, 3, 4, 5 under par, you're probably going to win your match. You've got to play your own game, you've got to be smart, but if your opponent does either something really good that can force your hand sometimes or if they're out of position, you can play a little safer. You've got to be smart, but at the end of the day the best player's going to win.
Q. So how are you feeling right now?
LUKE POULTER: A little disappointed. I mean, I would have liked to finish with a birdie, but I feel like I played really good all day. I mean, it is what it is. That's golf.
Q. And you did really good today. You had two eagles, right?
LUKE POULTER: Yeah, yeah. I started off with a bogey. Then I hit it to about a foot and a half on hole 2 and then I holed out on hole 9.
Q. Do you put yourself into a certain mindset every single time you're going onto the tee box?
LUKE POULTER: Yeah. I try to just zone into the shot and try and focus one shot at a time and try not to get out of myself.
Q. Even when you're not playing the way that you want to play, how do you still remain calm?
LUKE POULTER: It's golf. Like everyone does it, it happens. Like you've just got to try and control what you can control and that's about it. That's what I did on the last. Thought I hit a really good shot and it spun up short.
Q. And how do you like playing at this facility here?
LUKE POULTER: Yeah, this place is really cool, it's really pure. I haven't played it before coming here. My dad had played the PGA in '11 or '01, I forget what year it was, but he said it was a really good golf course, so I was excited to come here and play it.
Q. And going into match play tomorrow, how's your mindset going to change?
LUKE POULTER: Nothing. The same way, just try and beat the person I'm playing as hard as I can.
The Gators and Noles will meet in a semifinals rematch after Florida defeated FSU in the NCAA Championship semifinals at Grayhawk in the summer in extra holes. Live coverage starts at 3 p.m. on Golf Channel. The winner will face the winner of North Carolina (No. 2) and Georgia Tech (No. 3), which is also a rematch at last year's semifinals in Scottsdale.
Luke Poulter led the Gators in the stroke-play portion of the event. The redshirt freshman shared a tie for the lead after a 5-under (par-eagle-par-birdie-birde) five-hole stretch over holes 8-12. He then went par-birdie-par with some great putts in the next three to remain tied with the eventual individual winner, Kale Fontenot of Georgia Tech. However, a bogey and double over the remaining holes finished Poulter 1-under tied for sixth.
Battling for the individual title 💪
— Gators Golf (@GatorsGolf) October 30, 2023
Luke makes birdie on 14 and tied with Clanton and Fontenot
📺: @GolfChannel
📊: https://t.co/6veNqNhzam pic.twitter.com/QgdQkyBqCD
A nice par by Luke on 15 keeps him tied for the lead 👏
— Gators Golf (@GatorsGolf) October 30, 2023
📺: @GolfChannel
📊: https://t.co/6veNqNhzam pic.twitter.com/2EQbmJhg7m
A stroke separated the next three in the lineup. Matthew Kress regrouped from three consecutive bogeys with back-to-back birdies on 11 and 12. He then set up for a tap-in birdie on 18 after an approach shot that nearly bounced it for eagle. Kress shot an even-par 72 to place tied for eighth.
Dart on 18 for @kress_matthew 🎯
— Gators Golf (@GatorsGolf) October 30, 2023
We have seen this before... pic.twitter.com/sUcyKv4jGv
Ian Gilligan was one of four Gators to string birdies on 11 and 12. He was consistent most of the day at Atlanta Athletic Club and turned in a 71 (+1) to tie for 11th.
The rest of the lineup featured Parker Bell tied for 16 and Tyler Wilkes in 19th.
Quotes
Q. First off, congrats on a great day today. How do you feel your boys played?
COACH J.C. DEACON: You know, obviously Luke played great all day and unfortunately had a double on the last there that was a painful way to finish, but he had a great round. Then Ian and Matt Kress were really solid. Matt had an awesome finish birdieing the last, so that was nice. Just way too many double, triple and quadruple bogeys, just too many big numbers. But we hung in there OK and got a chance to make up for it in match play tomorrow.
Q. And what's going to be the focus going into match play?
COACH J.C. DEACON: Well, we've actually played a lot of really good match play the last few years, so it's just not giving away holes. I think that's the biggest thing is trying to be in every hole, hit as many fairways as you can, as many greens and hopefully the putters get hot. We've got a really good Florida State team we've got to try and beat.
Q. And is there anything about this golf course in particular that stuck out to you today that you think you'll be able to tell your team going into match play?
COACH J.C. DEACON: Yeah, you've got to really think your way around here and be on the right side of the hole. I think the conditions are going to continue to get more difficult as the week goes on. I like that. We've played pretty well in bad weather, so it's going to be a good test. Tough conditions against a tough team, but I think we've got a chance.
Q. And last one for you, what do you take your team's mindset to switch it from stroke play to match play?
COACH J.C. DEACON: Yeah, it is different, for sure, but at the end of the day if you can shoot 2, 3, 4, 5 under par, you're probably going to win your match. You've got to play your own game, you've got to be smart, but if your opponent does either something really good that can force your hand sometimes or if they're out of position, you can play a little safer. You've got to be smart, but at the end of the day the best player's going to win.
Q. So how are you feeling right now?
LUKE POULTER: A little disappointed. I mean, I would have liked to finish with a birdie, but I feel like I played really good all day. I mean, it is what it is. That's golf.
Q. And you did really good today. You had two eagles, right?
LUKE POULTER: Yeah, yeah. I started off with a bogey. Then I hit it to about a foot and a half on hole 2 and then I holed out on hole 9.
Q. Do you put yourself into a certain mindset every single time you're going onto the tee box?
LUKE POULTER: Yeah. I try to just zone into the shot and try and focus one shot at a time and try not to get out of myself.
Q. Even when you're not playing the way that you want to play, how do you still remain calm?
LUKE POULTER: It's golf. Like everyone does it, it happens. Like you've just got to try and control what you can control and that's about it. That's what I did on the last. Thought I hit a really good shot and it spun up short.
Q. And how do you like playing at this facility here?
LUKE POULTER: Yeah, this place is really cool, it's really pure. I haven't played it before coming here. My dad had played the PGA in '11 or '01, I forget what year it was, but he said it was a really good golf course, so I was excited to come here and play it.
Q. And going into match play tomorrow, how's your mindset going to change?
LUKE POULTER: Nothing. The same way, just try and beat the person I'm playing as hard as I can.
Players Mentioned
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