Friday, May 23
Carlsbad, Calif. / Omni La Costa: North Course
3:45 p.m. (18 holes)
Florida Gators
at
NCAA National Championships
Senior Ian Gilligan closes Florida's opening round of 3-under and are tied for 2nd after the opening round of the NCAA National Championship.
Seven-Under Final Nine Moves Gators tied for Second at National Championship
Friday, May 23, 2025 | Men's Golf
Florida shot its lowest opening round at the tournament in 19 years with 2-under rounds by Luke Poulter and Zack Swanwick.
CARLSBAD, Calif. - The Florida men's golf team got off to a great start behind a 7-under final nine at the 2025 NCAA National Championship for a 3-under round one to sit tied for second on Friday at Omni La Costa.
Today's mark of 3-under is the lowest opening round at the National Championship since 2006 (4-under) and tied for the third lowest round all-time at the tournament since then in program history.
The Gators are tied with Florida State and Texas in second as Oklahoma leads the first 18-holes at 8-under. UF was only one of seven teams to shoot under par today as three Florida golfers carded low rounds.
Florida is paired with ACC Champion Virginia and the Seminoles for tomorrow's second round, which begins at 10:25 a.m. ET. Following 54-holes on Sunday, the top-15 advance to the final round of stroke play on Monday as after 72-holes the top-8 advance to match play.
A 7-under final nine holes boosted UF up the leaderboard and rebounded from a 4-over first nine holes as Luke Poulter and Zack Swanwick both shot team-lows of 2-under 70 in their National Championship debuts. The pair bounced back from rough starts as Poulter made double on his first hole and Swanwick bogey-bogey start.
Swanwick logged a 4-under mark on the front nine with a birdie-birdie start and closed with a birdie on the par4 ninth (426 yards). After a bogey on the par3 16th (162 yards), Poulter went 4-under bogey-free behind back-to-back birdies on 17-18 and the seven-eighth. It was his fifth under par and sixth par or better round out of seven rounds this postseason. The underclassmen duo are both four shots off the leader Phichaksn Maichon of Texas A&M.
Senior Ian Gilligan was the third Gator to finish in the red with a 1-under 71. Ranked No. 3 in the PGA Tour U rankings, he erased a 3-over start through five holes behind an eagle on the par5 second (622 yards), one of six today among the field.
The final counting round was from Jack Turner at 74 (+2), who had an even-par final nine holes as the non-counting was just a shot back in Matthew Kress with a 75 (+3).
Florida Leaderboard
Team Leaderboard
Post Round Quotes - Head Coach J.C. Deacon
On today's performance…
"Very proud of our resilience today. Conditions were extremely difficult when we started. Greens have firmed up and it was breezy. Our guys hung in there and showed a ton of maturity. We can play better than this, but it was a nice start. We'll build off it."
On the three guys shooting under par – Ian Gilligan, Luke Poulter and Zack Swanwick…
"Great to get that round from our freshman Zack Swanwick. He's really become the five-man you dream of. Emotional reliable and he showed after the bogey-bogey start. He didn't flinch and shot a great round of 70
"Another solid day for Luke Poulter and nice 70 to open this week. He wasn't pleased after as his ball striking and knows he could have been much better.
"Ian Gilligan had a tough start as well and hung in there to put up an under-par round for us. Just a ton of resilience and maturity up and down the lineup."
Today's mark of 3-under is the lowest opening round at the National Championship since 2006 (4-under) and tied for the third lowest round all-time at the tournament since then in program history.
closed strong.
— Gators Golf (@GatorsGolf) May 24, 2025
Gators finish the opening round at the National Championship tied for 2nd. 🐊 pic.twitter.com/ewsYZhoZuj
The Gators are tied with Florida State and Texas in second as Oklahoma leads the first 18-holes at 8-under. UF was only one of seven teams to shoot under par today as three Florida golfers carded low rounds.
Florida is paired with ACC Champion Virginia and the Seminoles for tomorrow's second round, which begins at 10:25 a.m. ET. Following 54-holes on Sunday, the top-15 advance to the final round of stroke play on Monday as after 72-holes the top-8 advance to match play.
A 7-under final nine holes boosted UF up the leaderboard and rebounded from a 4-over first nine holes as Luke Poulter and Zack Swanwick both shot team-lows of 2-under 70 in their National Championship debuts. The pair bounced back from rough starts as Poulter made double on his first hole and Swanwick bogey-bogey start.
Swanwick logged a 4-under mark on the front nine with a birdie-birdie start and closed with a birdie on the par4 ninth (426 yards). After a bogey on the par3 16th (162 yards), Poulter went 4-under bogey-free behind back-to-back birdies on 17-18 and the seven-eighth. It was his fifth under par and sixth par or better round out of seven rounds this postseason. The underclassmen duo are both four shots off the leader Phichaksn Maichon of Texas A&M.
Let's hear it for Swanny 🫡
— Gators Golf (@GatorsGolf) May 24, 2025
After bogey-bogey start for the freshman, Swanwick finishes 3-under on the front for a round of 2-under 70. #GoGators 🐊 pic.twitter.com/97y25Jv2wr
Back-to-back birds 🔥
— Gators Golf (@GatorsGolf) May 23, 2025
Luke makes the turn even ➡️
Live Scoring: https://t.co/PavVTVlLDK#GoGators 🐊 pic.twitter.com/EzWjy4QZ2k
Senior Ian Gilligan was the third Gator to finish in the red with a 1-under 71. Ranked No. 3 in the PGA Tour U rankings, he erased a 3-over start through five holes behind an eagle on the par5 second (622 yards), one of six today among the field.
The final counting round was from Jack Turner at 74 (+2), who had an even-par final nine holes as the non-counting was just a shot back in Matthew Kress with a 75 (+3).
Florida Leaderboard
| Place | Name | Total Score | Total Par | Rd. 1 Score | Rd. 1 Par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T16 | Zack Swanwick | 70 | -2 | 70 | -2 |
| T16 | Luke Poulter | 70 | -2 | 70 | -2 |
| T25 | Ian Gilligan | 71 | -1 | 71 | -1 |
| T63 | Jack Turner | 74 | +2 | 74 | +2 |
| T79 | Matthew Kress | 75 | +3 | 75 | +3 |
Team Leaderboard
| POS | Team | Total | RD 1 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma | 280 | -8 | 280 | -8 |
| T2 | Florida | 285 | -3 | 285 | -3 |
| T2 | Texas | 285 | -3 | 285 | -3 |
| T2 | Florida State | 285 | -3 | 285 | -3 |
| T5 | Illinois | 286 | -2 | 286 | -2 |
| T5 | Arizona State | 286 | -2 | 286 | -2 |
| T5 | Auburn | 286 | -2 | 286 | -2 |
| T8 | Colorado | 289 | +1 | 289 | +1 |
| T8 | California | 289 | +1 | 289 | +1 |
| T8 | Brigham Young | 289 | +1 | 289 | +1 |
| 11 | Georgia | 291 | +3 | 291 | +3 |
| T12 | Texas Tech | 292 | +4 | 292 | +4 |
| T12 | Troy | 292 | +4 | 292 | +4 |
| T14 | Pepperdine | 293 | +5 | 293 | +5 |
| T14 | Oklahoma State | 293 | +5 | 293 | +5 |
| T14 | Ole Miss | 293 | +5 | 293 | +5 |
| T14 | Georgia Tech | 293 | +5 | 293 | +5 |
| T14 | USF | 293 | +5 | 293 | +5 |
| T19 | San Diego | 294 | +6 | 294 | +6 |
| T19 | Vanderbilt | 294 | +6 | 294 | +6 |
| 21 | Augusta | 295 | +7 | 295 | +7 |
| 22 | Wake Forest | 296 | +8 | 296 | +8 |
| T23 | Texas A&M | 297 | +9 | 297 | +9 |
| T23 | New Mexico | 297 | +9 | 297 | +9 |
| T25 | UNLV | 299 | +11 | 299 | +11 |
| T25 | Virginia | 299 | +11 | 299 | +11 |
| 27 | UCLA | 301 | +13 | 301 | +13 |
| 28 | South Carolina | 302 | +14 | 302 | +14 |
| 29 | Tennessee | 304 | +16 | 304 | +16 |
| 30 | Purdue | 307 | +19 | 307 | +19 |
Post Round Quotes - Head Coach J.C. Deacon
On today's performance…
"Very proud of our resilience today. Conditions were extremely difficult when we started. Greens have firmed up and it was breezy. Our guys hung in there and showed a ton of maturity. We can play better than this, but it was a nice start. We'll build off it."
On the three guys shooting under par – Ian Gilligan, Luke Poulter and Zack Swanwick…
"Great to get that round from our freshman Zack Swanwick. He's really become the five-man you dream of. Emotional reliable and he showed after the bogey-bogey start. He didn't flinch and shot a great round of 70
"Another solid day for Luke Poulter and nice 70 to open this week. He wasn't pleased after as his ball striking and knows he could have been much better.
"Ian Gilligan had a tough start as well and hung in there to put up an under-par round for us. Just a ton of resilience and maturity up and down the lineup."
Players Mentioned
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