Florida Men's Golf Sweeps NCAA Titles

Saturday, June 2

Durham, NC

12:00 AM

Florida Gators

NCAA Championships--Round 4

Florida Men's Golf Sweeps NCAA Titles

Sunday, June 3, 2001 | Men's Golf

The University of Florida men's golf team shot a blistering 13-under par final round of 275 to capture the 2001 NCAA Championship at the Duke University Golf Club, marking the fourth men's golf title in school history. Four Gators turned in under par rounds in the final 18 holes, including individual medalist Nick Gilliam, whose final round 71 gave him a tournament best 276.

Florida's school-record four-round total of 1,126 was 18 strokes better than runner-up Clemson, the third largest margin of victory since the NCAA Championships moved to four round play in 1968. The win completed a remarkable turnaround after the Gators shot an opening round 296 to put them in a 13^th place tie, 16 shots off the lead. UF then shot 10-under par 278 on the second day to move into second place and finished the third round at 11-under par 277 to pull into a first-place tie with Arizona heading into the final 18 holes.

"I was doing the one word answer earlier in the week: awful and excellent, so let's go with awesome. That was an incredible show," said head coach Buddy Alexander who also guided the Gators to the 1993 NCAA Championship. "It was overwhelming what happened on that front nine and then it just continued right through the 14th hole. We just kept making birdies. We stubbed our toe a little bit coming in but it's kind of hard to keep from doing that. I can't say enough about this team. They spent more time in the weight room than I spent in the office, I think."

Gilliam won his first career event in his final collegiate tournament and was one of three Gators among the top 11 finishers. Gilliam, a Gainesville native, shot rounds of 69-70-66-71 for a four-round total of 276 and the victory. Camilo Benedetti finished tied for second with a 279 (74-71-69-65), while Bubba Dickerson placed tied for 11th with a 285 (77-68-71-69). Camilo Villegas finished in a tie for 22^nd place with a 288 (76-69-73-70) and Ben Banks rounded out the Gator squad with a 76^th-place finish after shooting a 303 (77-77-71-78).

"In general, what an amazing feeling right now, to have our team to win the championship and myself," said Gilliam, who earned the Division I Palmer Award for his efforts. "I couldn't have dreamed a better picture. Having my dad being here, it's just been amazing. I played, what I felt like, at times kind of inspired golf. I played really well all week. I didn't make any mistakes until the 17th and 18th holes today or maybe I started thinking ahead a little bit for the first time. Obviously I thought ahead occasionally but I did a very good job focusing in on each shot. That was really just the key to the week. I knew I was capable of this, it just never happened before. It was good to be able to excel under the pressure and to do it in my final tournament really means a lot. It's amazing. It's a great feeling. I'm sure I won't realize what happened until next week."

Gilliam and Villegas were named PING First-Team All-Americans at the conclusion of the event. Villegas was also selected the 2000-01 Softspikes Freshman of the Year. Dickerson was named Third-Team All-American and Benedetti was named Honorable Mention.

2001 Florida Gator NCAA Championship Post-Tournament Notes

Florida captured its fourth NCAA Men's Golf Championship (1968, 1973, 1993, 2001) and second under head coach Buddy Alexander

UF's four NCAA titles is tied for seventh all-time in NCAA golf history

Florida is the only Division I school to have multiple NCAA Men's Golf Championships in the last nine years

Florida head coach Buddy Alexander, in his 14th season at Florida, wins his second national title while with the Gators (1993). Under Alexander, Florida has posted two national championships, one second-place finish (1990), two third-place finishes (1985 and 1994) and one fifth place finish (1988)

Florida senior Nick Gilliam also captured individual medalist honors, marking his first collegiate victory in his final collegiate event

Gilliam becomes the second Gator to capture the NCAA Medalist honor, joining Bob Murphy who took the title in 1966

Florida pulled off a sweep of both the team and individual title for the 33^rd time in NCAA Men's Golf Championship History

The 1,126 total strokes by Florida marks the ninth-lowest total in NCAA Championships history (1,116 by Oklahoma State and Georgia Tech, 2000; 1,118 by UNLV in 1998 and Arizona in 2000; 1,121 by Clemson in 1998; 1,122 by Houston in 2000 and Georgia Tech in 1998; 1,125 by Texas in 2000)

The course record of 65 was equaled by three individuals — Camilo Benedetti of Florida (4th round), Jamie Elson of Augusta State (2nd round) and Ricky Barnes (Arizona) 2nd round.

Florida's final round of 275, 13-under par is the second best total in school history (UF shot a 14-under par at the 1985 Imperial Lakes Intercollegiate and the 1997 Gator Invitational)

The 2001 men's golf title is the 14^th NCAA Championship for the Florida Athletic Program. Florida has also captured two AIAW Championships, six National Team Indoor championships in women's tennis and the football team has been voted No. 1 in the national polls twice

UF has won at least one national title in 14 of the last 20 years

The NCAA Tournament Championship is Florida's fourth tournament title of the season, the first since Feb. 19-20 at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate in Ponte Vedra, Fla.

Largest Team Margin of Victory Since 1968 (four-round format)

33 Strokes 1975 Wake Forest 1156 over Oklahoma State 1189

19 strokes 1989 Oklahoma 1139 over Texas 1158

18 strokes 2001 Florida 1126 over Clemson 1144

17 strokes 1978 Oklahoma State 1140 over Georgia 1157

16 strokes 1987 Oklahoma State 1160 over Wake Forest 1176

2001 NCAA Championships Final Team Standings

Place	School	To Par	Rnd 1	Rnd 2	Rnd 3	Rnd 4	Total
1	Florida	-26	296	278	277	275	1126
2	Clemson	-8	294	289	279	282	1144
3	Arizona	-7	280	289	282	294	1145
4	Georgia Tech	-4	289	292	282	285	1148
5	Georgia	E	296	284	286	286	1152
6	Arizona State	+10	298	288	289	287	1162
7	Augusta State	+12	292	288	285	299	1164
8	Virginia Tech	+13	294	291	285	295	1165
9	East Tennessee State	+15	293	289	292	293	1167
10	Wake Forest	+16	294	282	297	295	1168
11	Pacific	+25	299	291	295	292	1177
T12	Oklahoma	+27	294	291	297	297	1179
T12	Oregon State	+27	295	295	293	296	1179
T12	UAB	+27	297	289	300	293	1179
15	Southern Methodist	+38	298	289	299	304	1190

Individual Results

Place	Player	School	To Par	Rnd 1	Rnd 2	Rnd 3	Rnd 4	Total
1	Nick Gilliam	Florida	-12	69	70	66	71	276
T2	Camilo Benedetti	Florida	-9	74	71	69	65	279
T2	Jamie Elson	Augusta State	-9	73	65	70	71	279
T4	Kris Mikkelsen	Georgia Tech	-7	66	72	72	71	281
T4	Chez Reavie	Arizona State	-7	71	67	74	69	281
6	Jon Mills*	Kent State	-6	71	73	67	71	282
7	D.J. Trahan	Clemson	-5	72	71	71	69	283
T8	Ricky Barnes	Arizona	-4	68	65	72	79	284
T8	Troy McKinley	Pacific	-4	70	68	74	72	284
T8	Bryce Molder	Georgia Tech	-4	73	72	66	73	284
T11	Bubba Dickerson	Florida	-3	77	68	71	69	285
T11	Lucas Glover	Clemson	-3	72	71	69	73	285
T13	Chris Nallen	Arizona	-2	66	77	66	77	286
T13	Simon Nash*	Minnesota	-2	71	72	72	71	286
T13	Nick Watney*	Fresno State	-2	71	70	72	73	286
T16	Cody Beyer	Arizona	-1	71	72	74	70	287
T16	Erik Compton	Georgia	-1	77	69	69	72	287
T16	John Engler	Clemson	-1	75	71	71	70	287
T16	Graeme McDowell	UAB	-1	75	68	74	70	287
T16	Parker McLachlin*	UCLA	-1	74	69	73	71	287
T16	Chris Wisler	East Tennessee St.	-1	71	69	74	73	287
T22	Camilo Villegas	Florida	E	76	69	73	70	288
T22	Nick Cassini	Georgia	E	70	71	74	73	288
T22	Brendon DeJonge	Virginia Tech	E	72	71	70	75	288
T22	Ryan Hybl	Georgia	E	73	72	71	72	288
T22	Matt Jones	Arizona State	E	77	73	67	71	288
T27	Troy Matteson	Georgia Tech	+1	74	76	69	70	289
T27	Sean McTernan*	Toledo	+1	71	73	75	70	289
29	James Johnson	East Tennessee St.	+2	73	72	72	73	290
T30	Chris McKeel	Virginia Tech	+3	78	69	73	71	291
T30	David Miller	Georgia	+3	76	73	73	69	291
T30	Jay Morgan	Wake Forest Univ.	+3	76	70	74	71	291
T30	Oliver Wilson	Augusta State U.	+3	76	73	68	74	291
T34	Kelsey Cline	Oklahoma	+4	72	70	74	76	292
T34	Jedd McLuen*	College of Charleston	+4	73	70	74	75	292
T34	Johnson Wagner	Virginia Tech	+4	78	74	67	73	292
T34	Chris Yoder	Wake Forest Univ.	+4	74	68	73	77	292
38	John Klauk*	Texas	+5	73	72	71	77	293
T39	Franklin Hatchett	Southern Methodist	+6	72	71	75	76	294
T39	Reid Hatley	Arizona	+6	75	75	71	73	294
T39	Brad Heaven*	Toledo	+6	72	72	77	73	294
T39	Gregg Jones	Clemson	+6	75	77	68	74	294
T39	Jin Park	Arizona State	+6	74	75	71	74	294
T39	Jani Saari	Clemson	+6	75	76	73	70	294
T39	Brent Wanner	Wake Forest	+6	70	72	74	78	294
T46	Pat Beste	East Tennessee St.	+7	75	75	74	71	295
T46	Martin Flores	Oklahoma	+7	76	70	74	75	295
T46	Cortland Lowe	Wake Forest Univ.	+7	75	74	77	69	295
T46	Daniel Ozley	UAB	+7	74	68	78	75	295
50	Daren Greig	Oregon State.	+8	78	76	72	70	296
T51	Anthony Arvidson	Oregon State.	+9	71	75	75	76	297
T51	Jason Higton	Pacific	+9	75	74	75	73	297
T51	Bryant Odom	Georgia	+9	79	72	73	73	297
T51	Jerome Theunis	Southern Methodist	+9	75	74	72	76	297
T55	Matt Cohn	Oklahoma	+10	71	77	77	73	298
T55	Wade Ormsby*	Houston	+10	72	71	77	78	298
T55	Adam Riddering	East Tennessee St.	+10	76	74	72	76	298
T55	Michael Webb	Augusta State.	+10	69	76	76	77	298
T59	Robert Duck	Augusta State.	+11	75	75	71	78	299
T59	John Kidwell	Oklahoma	+11	75	75	75	74	299
T59	Wes Latimer	Georgia Tech	+11	76	72	77	74	299
T59	David Yarnes	Oregon State.	+11	75	73	72	79	299
T63	Michael Jurgensen	Oregon State .	+12	74	72	81	73	300
T63	Payton Osborn	UAB	+12	74	74	78	74	300
T63	Matt Weibring	Georgia Tech	+12	76	78	75	71	300
T66	Craig Gordon	UAB	+13	74	79	74	74	301
T66	Bill Haas	Wake Forest Univ.	+13	75	72	76	78	301
T66	Thomas Lee	East Tennessee St.	+13	74	74	77	76	301
T66	Ben Scribner	Pacific	+13	78	75	73	75	301
T66	David Williams	Oregon StateU.	+13	75	75	74	77	301
T71	Ryan Abbate	Southern Methodist	+14	80	70	76	76	302
T71	Cody Freeman	Oklahoma	+14	77	76	74	75	302
T71	Brock Mulder	Southern Methodist	+14	76	74	76	76	302
T71	Tom O'Stasik	Pacific	+14	76	75	79	72	302
T71	Jeff Quinney	Arizona State	+14	76	74	79	73	302
76	Ben Banks	Florida	+15	77	77	71	78	303
T77	Brian Krusoe	Virginia Tech	+16	71	78	79	76	304
T77	Brian Nosler	Arizona State	+16	79	74	77	74	304
79	Andy Connell	Arizona	+19	81	79	73	74	307
T80	Matt Hansen	Pacific	+20	83	74	73	78	308
T80	Jayce Stepp	Augusta State.	+20	75	75	81	77	308
82	Drew Jones	UAB	+21	75	81	74	79	309
83	Stephen Sparolini	Southern Methodist	+22	75	78	78	79	310
-	Ryan Stinnett	Virginia Tech	-	73	77	75	D	-

2001 NCAA Championships statistical leaders:

Par 3 scoring: Nick Gilliam (Florida), Ryan Hybl (Georgia) & Parker McLachlin (UCLA) -4

Par 4 scoring: Jamie Elson (Augusta State) & Troy McKinley (Pacific) -3

Par 5 scoring: Camilo Benedetti (Florida) -12

Eagles: Camilo Benedetti (Florida), Kris Mikkelsen (Georgia Tech), David Miller (Georgia) & Matt Jones (ArizonaState) 2;

Birdies: Nick Gilliam (Florida) 20; Pars: Parker McLachlin (UCLA) & Jason Higton (Pacific) 52

University of Florida Men's Golf

2001 NCAA Individual Champion Nick Gilliam Day-by-Day Scorecards

Nick Gilliam

Round 4

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Par	4	4	4	3	4	4	5	3	5	36	4	5	3	4	5	3	4	4	4	36	72
Score	5	4	4	2	3	3	5	3	4	33	4	5	3	4	4	3	4	6	5	38	71
+/- par	+1	+1	+1	E	-1	-2	-2	-2	-3	-3	-3	-3	-3	-3	-4	-4	-4	-2	-1	+2	-1

Round 3

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Par	4	4	4	3	4	4	5	3	5	36	4	5	3	4	5	3	4	4	4	36	72
Score	4	4	3	3	4	4	4	2	4	32	4	5	2	3	4	3	5	4	4	34	66
+/- par	E	E	-1	-1	-1	-1	-2	-3	-4	-4	-4	-4	-5	-6	-7	-7	-6	-6	-6	-2	-6

Round 2

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Par	4	4	4	3	4	4	5	3	5	36	4	5	3	4	5	3	4	4	4	36	72
Score	4	4	3	3	4	4	5	3	4	34	4	4	3	4	5	3	3	5	5	36	70
+/- par	E	E	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1	-2	-2	-2	-3	-3	-3	-3	-3	-4	-3	-2	E	-2

Round 1

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Par	4	4	4	3	4	4	5	3	5	36	4	5	3	4	5	3	4	4	4	36	72
Score	5	4	3	2	4	4	5	3	4	34	4	5	3	4	5	3	3	4	4	35	69
+/- par	E	E	-1	-2	-2	-2	-2	-2	-3	-2	E	E	E	E	E	E	-1	-1	-1	-1	-3

Final Round Scorecards for other Gators

Camilo Benedetti

Round 4

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Par	4	4	4	3	4	4	5	3	5	36	4	5	3	4	5	3	4	4	4	36	72
Score	4	3	4	3	4	3	3	3	3	30	5	4	3	3	5	3	3	5	4	35	65
+/- par	E	-1	-1	-1	-1	-2	-4	-4	-6	-6	-5	-6	-6	-7	-7	-7	-8	-7	-7	-1	-7

Bubba Dickerson

Round 4

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Par	4	4	4	3	4	4	5	3	5	36	4	5	3	4	5	3	4	4	4	36	72
Score	4	3	4	3	4	3	5	3	5	34	3	5	2	4	6	3	4	4	4	35	69
+/- par	E	-1	-1	-1	-1	-2	-2	-2	-2	-2	-3	-3	-4	-4	-3	-3	-3	-3	-3	-1	-3

Camilo Villegas

Round 4

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Par	4	4	4	3	4	4	5	3	5	36	4	5	3	4	5	3	4	4	4	36	72
Score	3	4	4	3	3	3	5	3	5	33	4	4	3	4	5	4	5	4	4	37	70
+/- par	-1	-1	-1	-1	-2	-3	-3	-3	-3	-3	-3	-4	-4	-4	-4	-3	-2	-2	-2	+1	-2

Ben Banks

Round 4

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Par	4	4	4	3	4	4	5	3	5	36	4	5	3	4	5	3	4	4	4	36	72
Score	4	6	5	3	5	4	4	2	6	39	4	5	3	4	6	3	5	5	4	39	78
+/- par	E	+2	+3	+3	+4	+4	+3	+2	+3	+3	+3	+3	+3	+3	+4	+4	+5	+6	+6	+3	+6