Wednesday, March 18
Pauma Valley, Calif. / Pauma Valley Country Club
12:31 p.m. (18 holes)
Florida Gators
at
Pauma Valley Invitational
Josh Bai hits his tee shot during the Gators Invitational.
No. 3 Gators finish T3 at 13-under in Pauma Valley Invitational
Wednesday, March 18, 2026 | Men's Golf
Florida finished just three shots back of the top spot on the team leaderboard.
PAUMA VALLEY, Calif. – The No. 3 Florida men's golf tied for third at 13-under, just three shots back of the top spot at the Pauma Valley Invitational on Wednesday.
UF had a final team round of 280 (-4) to produce a 54-hole score of 839 (-13), which marked their third-lowest score by par this season (-27, -15). The T3 finish is the second this season, adding to four victories and a runner-up at the Fighting Illini Collegiate and 5th at Southern Highlands Collegiate.
Entering the final round, Florida trailed two shots off the team lead, held by No. 20 Tennessee as No. 15 Georgia Tech was a stroke ahead of the Gators. The Yellow Jackets quickly grabbed the team lead by three shots behind Benjamin Reuter who made eagle on the par5 (568 yards) second then an ace on the par3 (216 yards) third.
Between holes 3-6 completed, four strokes separated the top-4 teams – Georgia Tech (-15), Tennessee (-12), Florida (-11) and No. 6 LSU (-11) – that were paired together for the final 18-holes.
After each was 1-over through their first nine holes, both Josh Bai and Matthew Kress finished strong with 2-under back nines for rounds of 70 (-1), which positioned Florida three shots behind the lead with six holes to score. Bai logged back-to-back rounds of 70 (-1) in his first start in the lineup as six of his last eight rounds have been par or better. The 1-under round was also Kress' second of the week.
The deficit fell back to two shots with three holes remaining, but that was the closest UF got as the Yellow Jackets and Vols tied for the team title.
Sophomore Zack Swanwick carded the low round today for Florida with a bogey-free 68 (-3). He made all three of his birdies on the front nine to climb 22 spots in round three for a T22 finish at 1-under overall.
Returning from missing the last two tournaments, Luke Poulter owned the top finish by a Gator, placing T12 at 4-under. In six tournaments this season, he has finished top-16 in five and par or better for the tournament overall.
Playing as an individual this week, sophomore Parker Sands closed strong with a final round of 69 (-2) to finish for his second round of 2-under and T22 at Pauma Valley.
The Gators concluded the regular season at the Calusa Cup (April 5-7) where they have won the last two years before beginning the postseason at the SEC Championship from April 22-26 at St. Simonds Island, Ga.
Florida Player Leaderboard
Team Leaderboard
UF had a final team round of 280 (-4) to produce a 54-hole score of 839 (-13), which marked their third-lowest score by par this season (-27, -15). The T3 finish is the second this season, adding to four victories and a runner-up at the Fighting Illini Collegiate and 5th at Southern Highlands Collegiate.
Entering the final round, Florida trailed two shots off the team lead, held by No. 20 Tennessee as No. 15 Georgia Tech was a stroke ahead of the Gators. The Yellow Jackets quickly grabbed the team lead by three shots behind Benjamin Reuter who made eagle on the par5 (568 yards) second then an ace on the par3 (216 yards) third.
Between holes 3-6 completed, four strokes separated the top-4 teams – Georgia Tech (-15), Tennessee (-12), Florida (-11) and No. 6 LSU (-11) – that were paired together for the final 18-holes.
After each was 1-over through their first nine holes, both Josh Bai and Matthew Kress finished strong with 2-under back nines for rounds of 70 (-1), which positioned Florida three shots behind the lead with six holes to score. Bai logged back-to-back rounds of 70 (-1) in his first start in the lineup as six of his last eight rounds have been par or better. The 1-under round was also Kress' second of the week.
The deficit fell back to two shots with three holes remaining, but that was the closest UF got as the Yellow Jackets and Vols tied for the team title.
Sophomore Zack Swanwick carded the low round today for Florida with a bogey-free 68 (-3). He made all three of his birdies on the front nine to climb 22 spots in round three for a T22 finish at 1-under overall.
Returning from missing the last two tournaments, Luke Poulter owned the top finish by a Gator, placing T12 at 4-under. In six tournaments this season, he has finished top-16 in five and par or better for the tournament overall.
Playing as an individual this week, sophomore Parker Sands closed strong with a final round of 69 (-2) to finish for his second round of 2-under and T22 at Pauma Valley.
The Gators concluded the regular season at the Calusa Cup (April 5-7) where they have won the last two years before beginning the postseason at the SEC Championship from April 22-26 at St. Simonds Island, Ga.
Florida Player Leaderboard
| Pos | Player | Score | Rd. 1 | Rd. 2 | Rd. 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T12 | Luke Poulter | 209 (-4) | 70 (-1) | 67 (-4) | 72 (+1) |
| T16 | Jack Turner | 211 (-2) | 72 (+1) | 66 (-5) | 73 (+2) |
| T22 | Zack Swanwick | 212 (-1) | 73 (+2) | 71 (E) | 68 (-3) |
| T22 | Parker Sands (Ind) | 212 (-1) | 69 (-2) | 74 (+3) | 69 (-2) |
| T34 | Matthew Kress | 214 (+1) | 70 (-1) | 74 (+3) | 70 (-1) |
| T48 | Josh Bai | 216 (+3) | 76 (+5) | 70 (-1) | 70 (-1) |
Team Leaderboard
| POS | Team | Total | RD 1 | RD 2 | RD 3 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Georgia Tech | 836 | -16 | 280 | -4 | 278 | -6 | 278 | -6 |
| T1 | Tennessee | 836 | -16 | 273 | -11 | 284 | E | 279 | -5 |
| T3 | Florida | 839 | -13 | 285 | +1 | 274 | -10 | 280 | -4 |
| T3 | LSU | 839 | -13 | 283 | -1 | 279 | -5 | 277 | -7 |
| 5 | Oklahoma State | 844 | -8 | 279 | -5 | 285 | +1 | 280 | -4 |
| T6 | Virginia | 846 | -6 | 287 | +3 | 285 | +1 | 274 | -10 |
| T6 | Illinois | 846 | -6 | 287 | +3 | 277 | -7 | 282 | -2 |
| 8 | SMU | 847 | -5 | 281 | -3 | 285 | +1 | 281 | -3 |
| 9 | Ole Miss | 853 | +1 | 276 | -8 | 289 | +5 | 288 | +4 |
| 10 | Texas Tech | 855 | +3 | 283 | -1 | 285 | +1 | 287 | +3 |
| 11 | East Tennessee State | 857 | +5 | 292 | +8 | 287 | +3 | 278 | -6 |
| 12 | San Diego State | 860 | +8 | 285 | +1 | 291 | +7 | 284 | E |
| 13 | San Diego | 862 | +10 | 284 | E | 286 | +2 | 292 | +8 |
| T14 | Loyola Marymount | 865 | +13 | 293 | +9 | 278 | -6 | 294 | +10 |
| T14 | Toledo | 865 | +13 | 290 | +6 | 287 | +3 | 288 | +4 |
| 16 | Colorado State | 883 | +31 | 293 | +9 | 297 | +13 | 293 | +9 |
Players Mentioned
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