No. 8 Gators Host VyStar Credit Union Gators Invitational

Saturday, February 11

Gainesville, Fla.

8 a.m. (36 Holes)

Florida Gators

VyStar Credit Union Gators Invitational

No. 8 Gators Host VyStar Credit Union Gators Invitational

Thursday, February 9, 2023 | Men's Golf

Live Scoring

Action gets underway on Saturday at 8 a.m. at Mark Bostick Golf Course

By: Matthew Hutchison

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Dates: Saturday, Feb. 11 - Sunday, Feb. 12
Location: Gainesville, Fla. - Mark Bostick Golf Course
Host: University of Florida
Course Par/Yardage: 70 / 6,701 yards
Format: 36 holes on Saturday and 18 on Sunday
Tee Times: 8 a.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m. on Sunday
Scoring: Golf Stat
Social Media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

TEE OFF
Fresh off a spring opening victory, the No. 8 Florida men's golf team host the 46th VyStar Credit Unions Gators Invitational this weekend.

LINEUP
Florida A
No. 1 - Fred Biondi
No. 2 - Ricky Castillo
No. 3 - Yuxin Lin
No. 4 - John DuBois
No. 5 - Matthew Kress

Florida B
No. 1 - Giovanni Manzoni
No. 2 - Quentin Debove
No. 3 - Tyler Wilkes
No. 4 - Miguel Leal
No. 5 - Ryan Hart
Ind. - Parker Bell

COMPETING TEAMS
Florida Atlantic, Florida (host), Florida Gulf Coast, Georgia Southern, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, Liberty, North Florida, North Texas, Penn State, South Florida, Stetson, and West Virginia.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Florida has defend its home course, winning the event 28 times and has own the last three consecutive. From 1987-2011, the Gators won the event 20 times and nine straight between 1989-1997.

Last year the tournament began a breakout All-American season for Fred Biondi, who earned his first collegiate victory en route to tying the tournament record of 196 (-14) behind a birdie on 18.

LAST TIME OUT
Behind Fred Biondi's third collegiate win in one-hole playoff, the Gators won the spring opener at the Sea Best Invitational for the sixth time in program history and 23 strokes. The final round of 271 (-9) tied for the second-lowest round of the year, one away from the season-low set in the season opener. UF repeated as back-to-back champions in the event for the third occurrence (2011-12 & 2016-17) as the victory marked the 17th under J.C. Deacon and seven in the last three seasons.

Florida had six players finish in the top-10: Biondi (T1), Castill (T1), Giovanni Manzoni (3), Miguel Leal (T5), Yuxin Lin (T9) and Matthew Kress (T9).

EARLY HARDWARE
Fred Biondi and Miguel Leal collected some early honors to start the spring slate. Biondi earned his third career SEC Player of the Week award as Leal received his first, being named SEC Freshman of the Week.

IN THE RANKINGS
The Gators were tabbed No. 8 in the first spring rankings by Golfstat and Golfweek.

A SEASON AGO
After a bumpy start early in the fall, the Gators concluded with a top-5 finish at Isleworth 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. 3 spot with Castillo jumping four spots this week to No. 16, Lin is No. 20 and DuBois right outside the top-25 at No. 26.

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.

Heading into the spring, Yuxin Lin and Biondi were selected to the Ben Hogan Award Watch List, presented annually to the top collegiate men's 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 Orange and Blue travel to Southern Highlands (Feb. 26-28) to wrap up the month of February before the final two regular-season tournaments.