Wednesday, October 29
Atlanta, Ga. / East Lake Golf Club
8:30 a.m. (Match Play) | East Lake Cup Finals
Florida Gators
vs
Virginia
Florida hoist the 2025 East Lake Cup trophy after defeating No. 1 Virginia on Wednesday at East Lake Golf Club.
Gators top No. 1 Virginia for East Lake Cup Title
Wednesday, October 29, 2025 | Men's Golf
Parker Bell made a birdie on the 18th to defeat the No. 2 amateur and No. 1 player in PGA TOUR U Ben James for the match-clinching point.
ATLANTA - The No. 9 Florida men's golf team took down the No. 1 Virginia Cavaliers 3-2 behind Parker Bell's clutch birdie on the 18th hole to secure the 2025 East Lake Cup Title on Wednesday at East Lake Golf Club. The win marks the Gators' second straight victory this fall and their first-ever championship at the prestigious event.
Today's final was a rematch of last year's NCAA National Championship Semifinals (UVA 3, UF 0) and 2023 NCAA National Championship Quarterfinals (UF 3, UVA 2). The victory improves Florida to 2-1 all-time vs. Virginia and 22-11-1 in match play overall under head coach J.C. Deacon. The tournament title is the 34th all-time under Deacon and eighth season of multiple wins, including the last six consecutive.
Senior Parker Bell secured the match-clinching point 1-Up against the No. 2 ranked amateur and No. 1 player in the PGA TOUR U, Ben James. After a challenging 2024 season with just five lineup appearances after being in the postseason lineup his sophomore season, Bell has shined this fall. The Tallahassee native entered this week with recent finishes of T8-T12 and kept the momentum going. He had a team-best T2 (-2) finish in stroke play and went 2-0 in match play with a dominant 5&3 win yesterday where he shot a bogey-free 6-under and only dropped two holes.
Bell and James were both tied through seven holes before Bell won three straight holes (8-10) to quickly move 3-Up. The two halved 11 & 12 as Bell's par on the 13th moved him 4-Up with five to play. However, James responded with consecutive victories on the 14th, 15th and 16th to trim the lead to one shot as he made four birdies in his last five holes.
With 1-Up lead on the 17th, Bell was clutch making birdie to tie the hole after James chipped in for birdie. On the 18th, the two matched again with birdies as Bell held steady and drilled another clutch putt from distant to clinch the victory.
It was back-to-back days a Gator earned the match-clinching point with a birdie on the 18th over a highly ranked golfer. In Tuesday's Semifinals, Jack Turner defeated Ole Miss' Michael La Sasso 2-Up, the 2025 NCAA Individual National Champion and current No. 10 amateur and No. 3 in PGA TOUR U.
Florida's leadoff man, Luke Poulter, continued his stellar match play form. He secured Florida's first point with a 4&3 victory behind a lengthy birdie putt to go 2-0 this week and move his collegiate match play record to 7-2 all-time. In his 29 holes this week, Poulter won and tied 13 holes, while only losing three.
Going 4-0 in postseason match play (SEC's 3-0, NCAA's 1-0) in his freshman season last year, Zack Swanwick pushed Florida ahead 2-0 with a 2&1 victory. The sophomore erased an early one hole deficit and went 1-Up with a birdie on the 13th and held the advantage the next three holes before a birdie on the 17th to clinch his match.
Virginia grabbed its first point behind a Josh Duangmanee 2-Up victory over Matthew Kress, who extended his match to the 18th hole after being 3-Down with eight holes to play. The Cavs second point came from a 3&1 win by Byran Lee over Jack Turner, who fell to 7-4 in career match play.
Florida begins the spring season at the Sea Best Invitational at Atlantic Beach Country Club, an event Florida has won seven times and its last three straight outings. Following that, UF hosts the Gators Invitational from Feb. 14-15 at Mark Bostick Golf Course as the field will feature the last two National Champions in Oklahoma State and Auburn.
East Lake Cup Finals | #1-seed & No. 1-ranked Virginia -2, #2-seed & No. 9-ranked Florida - 3
Luke Poulter 4&3 vs. Michael Lee
Josh Duangmanee 2-Up vs. Matthew Kress
Zack Swanwick 2&1 vs. Paul Chang
Parker Bell 1Up vs. Ben James
Bryan Lee 3&1 vs. Jack Turner
Post Round Quotes
Associate Head Coach Dudley Hart
Q. What does this win mean for your program and the players who competed this week?
"It means a lot. Obviously we've got a field -- it's a small field but some great teams that have a lot of accomplishments. Especially winning today, weather being as tough as it was. We've been preaching team toughness and battling through things when things get hard and I think that's what great teams do and we proved that today."
Q. What stood out most to you about your team's performance?
"I would just think sticking to the plan pretty much. We had a good game plan to play this golf course, although today it had to be thrown out the window it played so different with it being cold, windy and rainy. The golf course played a lot longer. They played to the right spots, didn't get the ball in the wrong position very often and we were fortunate to come out with a win."
Q. And how do you think this experience will help your players moving forward heading into the spring?
"Oh, it's invaluable. We don't -- fortunately and unfortunately maybe, we don't get to play in weather like this very often, but to have that experience and know that you can tough it out and stay patient and do some good things is invaluable."
Senior Parker Bell
Q. How did you stay composed to still keep that lead against Ben James?
"Yeah, obviously it's tough, we're playing in a monsoon right now. It's cold, it's windy, it's rainy. You feel like it's hard to even hold onto the club, right? I'm just trying to keep everything dry let alone hit good golf shots. Kind of build a bit of a lead there coming down the end. I didn't really expect it to come down to it like it did, but it's Ben James, right? He's a PGA TOUR player."
Junior Luke Poulter
Q. What did that mean for you to get you guys on the board first?
"Yeah, it's good. It's always nice to get that first point, I think it leaves a good message for the rest of the guys and leaves a good message for the other team saying we're here for business. I think, yeah, hopefully watching Parker here, hopefully he can make this putt to have us, give us the win. Yeah, definitely going early and getting that point is great for everyone."
Q. And it looked like obviously tough conditions, rain, cold. Did you feel like pars would be good enough today?
"Yeah, 100 percent. If you're making pars, you're going to be pretty tough to beat. You've just got to kind of -- if you keep it in front of yourself, make pars and just let them make the mistakes, I don't think many people are going to beat you. If you make birdie, it's a bonus."
Q. You didn't even make it to this hole, 16, in both your matches. What did you do and what do you tell yourself to be so dominant in match play?
"Just like I said, not make mistakes. Yeah, not make mistakes, giving yourself chances for birdies, never being out of the hole and just, yeah, make sure your putter's hot. My putter was good, irons were good. Yeah, everything was great. Yeah, like I said, just keeping yourself in every hole and not giving away any strokes."
PBell does it ‼️
— Gators Golf (@GatorsGolf) October 29, 2025
He clinches the match and the Gators are the East Lake Cup Champs! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/b8DsCISsal
Today's final was a rematch of last year's NCAA National Championship Semifinals (UVA 3, UF 0) and 2023 NCAA National Championship Quarterfinals (UF 3, UVA 2). The victory improves Florida to 2-1 all-time vs. Virginia and 22-11-1 in match play overall under head coach J.C. Deacon. The tournament title is the 34th all-time under Deacon and eighth season of multiple wins, including the last six consecutive.
Senior Parker Bell secured the match-clinching point 1-Up against the No. 2 ranked amateur and No. 1 player in the PGA TOUR U, Ben James. After a challenging 2024 season with just five lineup appearances after being in the postseason lineup his sophomore season, Bell has shined this fall. The Tallahassee native entered this week with recent finishes of T8-T12 and kept the momentum going. He had a team-best T2 (-2) finish in stroke play and went 2-0 in match play with a dominant 5&3 win yesterday where he shot a bogey-free 6-under and only dropped two holes.
Bell and James were both tied through seven holes before Bell won three straight holes (8-10) to quickly move 3-Up. The two halved 11 & 12 as Bell's par on the 13th moved him 4-Up with five to play. However, James responded with consecutive victories on the 14th, 15th and 16th to trim the lead to one shot as he made four birdies in his last five holes.
With 1-Up lead on the 17th, Bell was clutch making birdie to tie the hole after James chipped in for birdie. On the 18th, the two matched again with birdies as Bell held steady and drilled another clutch putt from distant to clinch the victory.
It was back-to-back days a Gator earned the match-clinching point with a birdie on the 18th over a highly ranked golfer. In Tuesday's Semifinals, Jack Turner defeated Ole Miss' Michael La Sasso 2-Up, the 2025 NCAA Individual National Champion and current No. 10 amateur and No. 3 in PGA TOUR U.
Florida's leadoff man, Luke Poulter, continued his stellar match play form. He secured Florida's first point with a 4&3 victory behind a lengthy birdie putt to go 2-0 this week and move his collegiate match play record to 7-2 all-time. In his 29 holes this week, Poulter won and tied 13 holes, while only losing three.
built for this. 🐊 https://t.co/zf2fmskdU1 pic.twitter.com/iIxywPTNHz
— Gators Golf (@GatorsGolf) October 29, 2025
Going 4-0 in postseason match play (SEC's 3-0, NCAA's 1-0) in his freshman season last year, Zack Swanwick pushed Florida ahead 2-0 with a 2&1 victory. The sophomore erased an early one hole deficit and went 1-Up with a birdie on the 13th and held the advantage the next three holes before a birdie on the 17th to clinch his match.
Swanny 🦢
— Gators Golf (@GatorsGolf) October 29, 2025
He grabs Florida's second point with a 2&1 win! ☑️ pic.twitter.com/5tP2WztjXH
Virginia grabbed its first point behind a Josh Duangmanee 2-Up victory over Matthew Kress, who extended his match to the 18th hole after being 3-Down with eight holes to play. The Cavs second point came from a 3&1 win by Byran Lee over Jack Turner, who fell to 7-4 in career match play.
Florida begins the spring season at the Sea Best Invitational at Atlantic Beach Country Club, an event Florida has won seven times and its last three straight outings. Following that, UF hosts the Gators Invitational from Feb. 14-15 at Mark Bostick Golf Course as the field will feature the last two National Champions in Oklahoma State and Auburn.
East Lake Cup Finals | #1-seed & No. 1-ranked Virginia -2, #2-seed & No. 9-ranked Florida - 3
Luke Poulter 4&3 vs. Michael Lee
Josh Duangmanee 2-Up vs. Matthew Kress
Zack Swanwick 2&1 vs. Paul Chang
Parker Bell 1Up vs. Ben James
Bryan Lee 3&1 vs. Jack Turner
Post Round Quotes
Associate Head Coach Dudley Hart
Q. What does this win mean for your program and the players who competed this week?
"It means a lot. Obviously we've got a field -- it's a small field but some great teams that have a lot of accomplishments. Especially winning today, weather being as tough as it was. We've been preaching team toughness and battling through things when things get hard and I think that's what great teams do and we proved that today."
Q. What stood out most to you about your team's performance?
"I would just think sticking to the plan pretty much. We had a good game plan to play this golf course, although today it had to be thrown out the window it played so different with it being cold, windy and rainy. The golf course played a lot longer. They played to the right spots, didn't get the ball in the wrong position very often and we were fortunate to come out with a win."
Q. And how do you think this experience will help your players moving forward heading into the spring?
"Oh, it's invaluable. We don't -- fortunately and unfortunately maybe, we don't get to play in weather like this very often, but to have that experience and know that you can tough it out and stay patient and do some good things is invaluable."
Senior Parker Bell
Q. How did you stay composed to still keep that lead against Ben James?
"Yeah, obviously it's tough, we're playing in a monsoon right now. It's cold, it's windy, it's rainy. You feel like it's hard to even hold onto the club, right? I'm just trying to keep everything dry let alone hit good golf shots. Kind of build a bit of a lead there coming down the end. I didn't really expect it to come down to it like it did, but it's Ben James, right? He's a PGA TOUR player."
Junior Luke Poulter
Q. What did that mean for you to get you guys on the board first?
"Yeah, it's good. It's always nice to get that first point, I think it leaves a good message for the rest of the guys and leaves a good message for the other team saying we're here for business. I think, yeah, hopefully watching Parker here, hopefully he can make this putt to have us, give us the win. Yeah, definitely going early and getting that point is great for everyone."
Q. And it looked like obviously tough conditions, rain, cold. Did you feel like pars would be good enough today?
"Yeah, 100 percent. If you're making pars, you're going to be pretty tough to beat. You've just got to kind of -- if you keep it in front of yourself, make pars and just let them make the mistakes, I don't think many people are going to beat you. If you make birdie, it's a bonus."
Q. You didn't even make it to this hole, 16, in both your matches. What did you do and what do you tell yourself to be so dominant in match play?
"Just like I said, not make mistakes. Yeah, not make mistakes, giving yourself chances for birdies, never being out of the hole and just, yeah, make sure your putter's hot. My putter was good, irons were good. Yeah, everything was great. Yeah, like I said, just keeping yourself in every hole and not giving away any strokes."
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
East Lake Cup Champions 10-29-25
Wednesday, October 29
East Lake Cup Champions (October 29, 2025)
Wednesday, October 29
2025 Florida Hall of Fame - Maurkice Pouncey | Football 2007-09
Wednesday, October 29
East Lake Cup Champs 10-29-25
Wednesday, October 29
