Wednesday, April 19
St. Simons Island, Ga. / Sea Island Golf Club
8 a.m. (18 Holes)
Florida Gators
at
SEC Championship
SEC Championship ahead for No. 7/9 Gators
Tuesday, April 18, 2023 | Men's Golf
Florida tees off at 8 a.m. on Wednesday at Sea Island Golf Club in St Simons Island, Ga.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Dates: Wednesday, April 19 - Sunday, April 23
Location: St. Simons Island, Ga. - Sea Island Golf Club
Host: SEC
Course Par/Yardage: 70 / 7,005 yards
Format: 54-hole stroke play (18-18-18) and Match Play (3 matches)
Tee Times: 8 a.m. on Wednesday and TBA other days
Scoring: Golf Stat
Watch: Semifinals (SECN+) and Finals (SECN)
Social Media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
TEE OFF
The No. 7/9 Florida men's golf team begins the first step of the postseason at the SEC Championship on Wednesday.
LINEUP
No. 1 - Fred Biondi
No. 2 - Ricky Castillo
No. 3 - Yuxin Lin
No. 4 - John DuBois
No. 5 - Matthew Kress
Alternate - Ryan Hart
FORMAT
The 2023 event will mark the sixth 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.
COMPETING TEAMS (Golfstat / Golfweek rankings)
No. 17/17 Alabama, No. 35/36 Arkansas, No. 10/8 Auburn, No. 7/9 Florida, No. 27/31 Georgia, No. 78/82 Kentucky, No. 40/41 LSU, No. 20/18 Mississippi State, No. 42/43 Missouri, No. 23/21 Ole Miss, No. 56/62 South Carolina, No. 14/13 Tennessee, No. 15/15 Texas A&M and No. 1/1 Vanderbilt
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Gators rank 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 4-3 all-time with victories over South Carolina (2017), Ole Miss (2018), Georgia (2022) and Texas A&M (2022).
Last year, Florida finished runner-up and made it to the match-play finals for the first time in program history since the format was added. In stroke play, John DuBois claimed his first collegiate title and became the 25th Gator to win the SEC Individual Championship, the most by any school.
LAST TIME OUT
Florida wrapped up the regular season the way they started it, winning a team title, this time at the Augusta Haskins Ward Invite. Fred Biondi also laid claim to his second medalist honors of the season and fourth of his career to earn an exemption into the PGA Tour's 3M Open.
Biondi finished with a score of 201(-15) and is tied for second all-time by par in program history with Camillo Villegas. Biondi also owns the 4th and 10th lowest scores by par in Florida history. He is the second Gator to secure an exemption into a PGA event this season joining Yuxin Lin, who won the Southern Highlands for a spot in the Shriners Open. This is the second straight season Biondi has won two individual titles. The win also is the fifth medalist honor for the Gators this season, the most since the 2010-11 season when there were six.
The Gators won the tournament by 12 shots shooting 39-under. The tournament score is second all-time by par passing Florida's score of -37 at the 2006 NCAA Regional and only three away from the all-time mark of -42 set in the 2018 NCAA Regional.
The team win also marked the 19th under head coach J.C. Deacon and the eighth in the last three seasons as he is now third all-time in program history in victories passing Lynn Blevins. This is the sixth season with multiple wins with Deacon at the helm as the most under him was six in 2016-17. Since 1965, Florida has won 164 team tournament titles and 100 medalist honors.
EARLY HARDWARE
In the first 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* Biondi won his fourth career weekly honor and second of the season after his win in Augusta.
*indicates first career
IN THE RANKINGS
The Gators are ranked No. 7 by Golfweek and No. 9 by Golfstat
Individually, Yuxin Lin is tabbed No. 7 by Golfstat and No. 8 by Golfweek with Fred Biondi and Ricky Castillo both in the top-100 by each publication.
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 Lin climbing nine spots over the last three weeks to No. 9 while Castillo is tabbed No. 14.
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 three newcomers this season in Parker Bell (Tallahassee, Fla.), Toby Bishop (Wales, United Kingdom) 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 will find out its NCAA Regional selection on May 3rd during the selection show live on Golf Channel at 1 p.m. There are six pre-determined regional sites, which include Auburn, Ala., Salem, S.C., Bath, Mich., Las Vegas, N.V., Norman, Okla. and Morgan Hill, Calif.
Dates: Wednesday, April 19 - Sunday, April 23
Location: St. Simons Island, Ga. - Sea Island Golf Club
Host: SEC
Course Par/Yardage: 70 / 7,005 yards
Format: 54-hole stroke play (18-18-18) and Match Play (3 matches)
Tee Times: 8 a.m. on Wednesday and TBA other days
Scoring: Golf Stat
Watch: Semifinals (SECN+) and Finals (SECN)
Social Media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
TEE OFF
The No. 7/9 Florida men's golf team begins the first step of the postseason at the SEC Championship on Wednesday.
LINEUP
No. 1 - Fred Biondi
No. 2 - Ricky Castillo
No. 3 - Yuxin Lin
No. 4 - John DuBois
No. 5 - Matthew Kress
Alternate - Ryan Hart
FORMAT
The 2023 event will mark the sixth 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.
COMPETING TEAMS (Golfstat / Golfweek rankings)
No. 17/17 Alabama, No. 35/36 Arkansas, No. 10/8 Auburn, No. 7/9 Florida, No. 27/31 Georgia, No. 78/82 Kentucky, No. 40/41 LSU, No. 20/18 Mississippi State, No. 42/43 Missouri, No. 23/21 Ole Miss, No. 56/62 South Carolina, No. 14/13 Tennessee, No. 15/15 Texas A&M and No. 1/1 Vanderbilt
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Gators rank 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 4-3 all-time with victories over South Carolina (2017), Ole Miss (2018), Georgia (2022) and Texas A&M (2022).
Last year, Florida finished runner-up and made it to the match-play finals for the first time in program history since the format was added. In stroke play, John DuBois claimed his first collegiate title and became the 25th Gator to win the SEC Individual Championship, the most by any school.
LAST TIME OUT
Florida wrapped up the regular season the way they started it, winning a team title, this time at the Augusta Haskins Ward Invite. Fred Biondi also laid claim to his second medalist honors of the season and fourth of his career to earn an exemption into the PGA Tour's 3M Open.
Biondi finished with a score of 201(-15) and is tied for second all-time by par in program history with Camillo Villegas. Biondi also owns the 4th and 10th lowest scores by par in Florida history. He is the second Gator to secure an exemption into a PGA event this season joining Yuxin Lin, who won the Southern Highlands for a spot in the Shriners Open. This is the second straight season Biondi has won two individual titles. The win also is the fifth medalist honor for the Gators this season, the most since the 2010-11 season when there were six.
The Gators won the tournament by 12 shots shooting 39-under. The tournament score is second all-time by par passing Florida's score of -37 at the 2006 NCAA Regional and only three away from the all-time mark of -42 set in the 2018 NCAA Regional.
The team win also marked the 19th under head coach J.C. Deacon and the eighth in the last three seasons as he is now third all-time in program history in victories passing Lynn Blevins. This is the sixth season with multiple wins with Deacon at the helm as the most under him was six in 2016-17. Since 1965, Florida has won 164 team tournament titles and 100 medalist honors.
EARLY HARDWARE
In the first 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* Biondi won his fourth career weekly honor and second of the season after his win in Augusta.
*indicates first career
IN THE RANKINGS
The Gators are ranked No. 7 by Golfweek and No. 9 by Golfstat
Individually, Yuxin Lin is tabbed No. 7 by Golfstat and No. 8 by Golfweek with Fred Biondi and Ricky Castillo both in the top-100 by each publication.
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 Lin climbing nine spots over the last three weeks to No. 9 while Castillo is tabbed No. 14.
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 three newcomers this season in Parker Bell (Tallahassee, Fla.), Toby Bishop (Wales, United Kingdom) 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 will find out its NCAA Regional selection on May 3rd during the selection show live on Golf Channel at 1 p.m. There are six pre-determined regional sites, which include Auburn, Ala., Salem, S.C., Bath, Mich., Las Vegas, N.V., Norman, Okla. and Morgan Hill, Calif.
Players Mentioned
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