Florida Leads at Southern Highlands Collegiate, Gilligan Tied for Second

Sunday, February 25

Las Vegas, N.V. / Southern Highlands Golf Club

12 p.m. (18 Holes)

Florida Gators

Southern Highlands Collegiate

Matthew Kress shot an opening round of 69 (-3) at the Southern Highlands Collegiate on Sunday.

Florida Leads at Southern Highlands Collegiate, Gilligan Tied for Second

Sunday, February 25, 2024 | Men's Golf

Team & Player Leaderboard

An 8-under back nine by the No. 16 Gators carried them to the day-one lead.

By: Matthew Hutchison

LAS VEGAS — Behind an 8-under back nine, the No. 16 Florida men's golf team leads after round one the Southern Highlands Collegiate on Sunday.

The Gators shot an opening team round of 278 (-10) for a two shot lead heading into round two tomorrow at Southern Highlands Golf Club.

Florida was on top of the leaderboard the whole day and created separation behind an 8-under back nine from the counting rounds. Ian Gilligan started the charge with the first birdie on 11 and added back-to-back on 14 and 15 while going bogey-free after a bogey on his second hole of the day. A native of Reno, N.V., Gilligan's round of 67 (-5) marked his seventh consecutive round of par or better in the spring. He enters Monday one-shot behind leader Jack Lundin from Missouri.

Matthew Kress kept the birdies falling with three over a four-hole stretch on 13-16 to finish with a 69 (-3). He totaled a team-leading 78 birdies and is tied for 7th.

Shooting his sixth straight round of par or even with a 70 (-2) was Tyler Wilkes, who sits T17. His eagle on the par-4 16th was his third of the season, tied for the team-high.

Both Parker Bell and Luke Poulter turned in rounds of even par 72 to mark Florida's counting rounds of either par or under. Poulter's low round was his fifth consecutive and Bell fought back to even after his double on 12 with a birdie on 13 and a great putt on 18. The pair are tied for 39th.

Competing as an individual, John DuBois was the third Gator to post a 72 (E) in round one.

Florida tees off round two tomorrow at 1:40 p.m.

Florida Scores

Place	Name	Rd. 1
T2	Ian Gilligan	67
T7	Matthew Kress	69
T15	Tyler Wilkes	70
T39	Parker Bell	72
T39	Luke Poulter	72
T39	John DuBois (I)	72

Team Leaderboard

Place	School	Rd. 1
1	Florida	278
2	Illinois	280
T3	San Diego State	282
T3	Texas A&M	282
T3	Pepperdine	282
6	North Carolina	283
T7	Oklahoma	284
T7	Texas	284
9	New Mexico	286
T10	Auburn	287
T10	Arizona State	287
12	Missouri	290
13	UNLV	291
14	TCU	292
15	Georgia	297