Saturday, April 1
Augusta, Ga. / Forest Hills Golf Club
8:30 a.m. (36 Holes)
Florida Gators
at
Augusta Haskins Award Invitational
No. 12 Florida Finishes Regular Season in Augusta
Friday, March 31, 2023 | Men's Golf
The Gators tee off the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational on Saturday at 8:15 a.m.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Dates: Saturday, April 1 - Sunday, April 2
Location: Augusta, Ga. - Forest Hills Golf Club
Host: University of Augusta
Course Par/Yardage: 72 / 7,086 yards
Format: 36 holes on Saturday and 18 holes on Sunday
Tee Times: 8:15 a.m. on Friday and TBD on Saturday
Scoring: Golf Stat
Social Media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
TEE OFF
The No. 12 Florida men's golf team finishes the regular season at the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational this weekend.
LINEUP
No. 1 - Fred Biondi
No. 2 - Ricky Castillo
No. 3 - Yuxin Lin
No. 4 - Matthew Kress
No. 5 - John DuBois
COMPETING TEAMS (Golfstat rankings)
No. 6 Illinois, No. 9 Texas, No. 12 Florida, No. 18 Oklahoma State, No. 19 Georgia Southern, No. 22 Virginia, Augusta (host), Air Force, Charleston, East Tennessee State, Kennesaw State, Notre Dame, South Carolina, UCF and Virginia Tech.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Gators have competed twice in the event with the last being in 2002 with a fourth-place finish after a runner-up outing in 1992.
LAST TIME OUT
Florida wrapped up its second trip out west with a 7th place finish at the NIT with three Gators in the top-20. When Florida made the turn on the final day, they were 10-plus shots clear of the lead. The Gators (-14) battled on the back nine and shot 5-under today to cut the deficit to low as six strokes on two different occasionsU. F finished 14-under overall for the fifth straight under par double digit performance and seventh under par tournament this season.
EARLY HARDWARE
In the four straight weeks of spring competition, Florida has claimed an SEC Golfer of the Week award with three golfers earning a weekly conference honor for the first time in their career: Week 1 - Fred Biondi & Miguel Leal* (Freshman), Week 2- Ricky Castillo, Week 3 - Yuxin Lin* and Week 4 - Ryan Hart*
*indicates first career
IN THE RANKINGS
The Gators are ranked No. 12 by both Golfstat and Golfweek.
Individually, the second spring Arnold Palmer Cup Rankings came out with two in the Orange and Blue ranked for the International team; No. 4 Yuxin Lin and Quentin Debove No. 25.
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. 5 spot with Lin climbing nine spots over the last three weeks to No. 9 while Castillo is tabbed No. 16 and DuBois at No. 33.
WATCH LIST
Heading into the spring, Yuxin Lin and Fred Biondi were selected to the Ben Hogan Award Watch List, presented annually to the top collegiate men's golfer. Lin collected another nod being named to the Spring Haskins Award Watch List.
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 begin postseason play at the SEC Championship on April 19 at Sea Island in St. Simons Island, Ga.
Dates: Saturday, April 1 - Sunday, April 2
Location: Augusta, Ga. - Forest Hills Golf Club
Host: University of Augusta
Course Par/Yardage: 72 / 7,086 yards
Format: 36 holes on Saturday and 18 holes on Sunday
Tee Times: 8:15 a.m. on Friday and TBD on Saturday
Scoring: Golf Stat
Social Media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
TEE OFF
The No. 12 Florida men's golf team finishes the regular season at the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational this weekend.
LINEUP
No. 1 - Fred Biondi
No. 2 - Ricky Castillo
No. 3 - Yuxin Lin
No. 4 - Matthew Kress
No. 5 - John DuBois
COMPETING TEAMS (Golfstat rankings)
No. 6 Illinois, No. 9 Texas, No. 12 Florida, No. 18 Oklahoma State, No. 19 Georgia Southern, No. 22 Virginia, Augusta (host), Air Force, Charleston, East Tennessee State, Kennesaw State, Notre Dame, South Carolina, UCF and Virginia Tech.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Gators have competed twice in the event with the last being in 2002 with a fourth-place finish after a runner-up outing in 1992.
LAST TIME OUT
Florida wrapped up its second trip out west with a 7th place finish at the NIT with three Gators in the top-20. When Florida made the turn on the final day, they were 10-plus shots clear of the lead. The Gators (-14) battled on the back nine and shot 5-under today to cut the deficit to low as six strokes on two different occasionsU. F finished 14-under overall for the fifth straight under par double digit performance and seventh under par tournament this season.
EARLY HARDWARE
In the four straight weeks of spring competition, Florida has claimed an SEC Golfer of the Week award with three golfers earning a weekly conference honor for the first time in their career: Week 1 - Fred Biondi & Miguel Leal* (Freshman), Week 2- Ricky Castillo, Week 3 - Yuxin Lin* and Week 4 - Ryan Hart*
*indicates first career
IN THE RANKINGS
The Gators are ranked No. 12 by both Golfstat and Golfweek.
Individually, the second spring Arnold Palmer Cup Rankings came out with two in the Orange and Blue ranked for the International team; No. 4 Yuxin Lin and Quentin Debove No. 25.
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. 5 spot with Lin climbing nine spots over the last three weeks to No. 9 while Castillo is tabbed No. 16 and DuBois at No. 33.
WATCH LIST
Heading into the spring, Yuxin Lin and Fred Biondi were selected to the Ben Hogan Award Watch List, presented annually to the top collegiate men's golfer. Lin collected another nod being named to the Spring Haskins Award Watch List.
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 begin postseason play at the SEC Championship on April 19 at Sea Island in St. Simons Island, Ga.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
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