Turner's 64 starts Florida at 11-under in opening round of SEC Championship

Wednesday, April 22

St. Simons Island, Ga. / Sea Island Golf Club: Seaside Course

8 a.m. (18 holes)

Florida Gators

SEC Championship

Jack Turner walks on the green during the opening round of the 2026 SEC Championship.

Turner's 64 starts Florida at 11-under in opening round of SEC Championship

Wednesday, April 22, 2026 | Men's Golf

Team Leaderboard Player Leaderboard

Jack Turner had front nine of 28 (-7) and tied his career-low with a 64 (-6) for his sixth career under par round in the conference tournament.

By: Matthew Hutchison

ST. SIMONS, Ga. – Florida men's golfer Jack Turner shot an opening round of 6-under 64 to lead the Gators to an 11-under opening round of the SEC Championship on Wednesday at Sea Island Golf Club. The No. 4 ranked Gators are tied for 3^rd with No. 1 Auburn and No. 3 Texas.

All five counting scores from the Orange and Blue were under par. Florida's team round of 269 (-11) tied the program's lowest team round by score at the SEC Tournament, shot previously in 2006, 2017 and 2022.

Overall without the challenge of the wind, 14 of the 16 teams competing finished under par outside of only Georgia (E) and Kentucky (+5). The average score was under at 69.3 as five teams placed double-digit under par scores as the match play cut line (top-8) is at 8-under. The solo leader is Ryder Cowan of Oklahoma who shot a 62 (-8) for the second-lowest individual all-time at the SEC Championship. Ole Miss leads through 18-holes at 15-under followed by Oklahoma in second at 14-under.

Florida tees off tomorrow's round at 8 a.m. as following Friday's final 18-holes the top-8 team teams advance to match play, which begins with the quarterfinals and semifinals on Saturday with live coverage on SECN+ at 3 p.m. Tuesday's championship finals is slated for 10 a.m. live on SEC Network.

Turner continued to shoot low at the conference outing as he logged a 28 (-7) on the front nine that included a stretch of birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie between holes five-through-eight. Tied for 2^nd, his round of 64 (-6) tied his overall career-low and set a new SEC Tournament low. In seven career rounds, Turner has shot six of them under par as the lone over round was 71 (+1). He made six birdies to total 99 on this season as one more birdie will give him 100 for consecutive seasons.

A veteran of SECs, Matthew Kress played in 10^th career conference tournament round. The senior tied his career-best at the Seaside Course with a bogey-free 3-under 67. His back-to-back birdies on 15 and 16 helped produce a crucial 8-under and bogey-free stretch from the lineup.

Making his debut at Sea Island after serving as the substitute last season, sophomore Parker Sands had a birdie-birdie finish for round of 1-under 69. Fellow second-year, Zack Swanwick also closed strong for a 1-under round. He made eagle on the par5 15^th and birdie on the par4 16^th to help erase three straight bogeys between holes three-four-and-five. Swanwick's eagle was his fourth on the season.

Florida Player Scoreboard
T2. Jack Turner - 64 (-6)
T16. Matthew Kress - 67 (-3)
T31. Zack Swanwick - 69 (-1)
T31. Parker Sands - 69 (-1)
T52. Luke Poulter - 71 (+1)

Team Scoreboard
1. Ole Miss (-15)
2. Oklahoma (-14)
T3. Florida (-11)
T3. Texas (-11)
T3. Auburn (-11)
6. Mississippi State (-9)
T7. South Carolina (-8)
T7. Alabama (-8)
9. Texas A&M (-6)
T10. Missouri (-5)
T10. LSU (-5)
12. Arkansas (-3)
T13. Tennessee (-2)
T13. Vanderbilt (-2)
15. Georgia (E)
16. Kentucky (+5)

Post round Quotes - Head Coach J.C. Deacon
On the strong finish...
"That completely changes the day. I'm really proud of that, because we talk about resilience and being emotionally reliable and hanging in there. I thought we did a great job of that today, and we needed it. As you've seen, the scores are pretty good, and you needed to get to double digits today to to have a score that could factor. I am very proud of Parker Sands and Zack Swanwick who weren't playing their best golf early on, and for them to finish the way they did is huge for us going forward."

On having Matthew Kress and his experience this week...
"He is the epitome of what we ask our guys to do. From emotionally and with their short games. He's a product of five years of incredible development and has come so far. But I was laughing with him in the fairway on the 18th there because it's just that's a vintage Matthew Kress round today with no bogeys, three under par. It was a rock solid start, which is huge for him and the team."

On Jack Turner's performance today.
"I was kidding with Jack in the 18th fairway, saying about time because he's so good at everything he does. He's got every aspect of his game firing right now. I think the biggest difference between him now and when he was a freshman is how well he putts. His putting has become a real weapon for him, and he still hits it really well. Jack is working on all the finer points of the game, controlling distances and stuff like that, but when you can putt that well and drive as well as he does, the low rounds are bound to happen. It was nice to see a 28 out of him, but I know he probably feels like he left a few out there shooting. But obviously, a six under 64 you take it to start and it's right where he wants to be with two rounds left."