Florida Gators
NCAA Regionals
Villegas Ties For 2nd; No. 1 Men's Golf Advances to NCAAs
Sunday, May 23, 2004 | Men's Golf
Senior Camilo Villegas (Medellin, Colombia) finished one stroke behind the leader in a tie for second as the No. 1 Florida men's golf team broke a school record in posting its 13th consecutive top-five finish of the season as the Gators took fifth after the final round of play at the 2004 NCAA East Region Championships on Saturday at Yale Golf Course.
As one of the top 10 teams at one of the three regional tournaments, Florida will advance to the NCAA Championships June 1-4 at The Homestead in Hot Springs, Va.
Clemson won the tournament after a final round 277 (-3) left the Tigers at 856 (+16). Penn State finished second at 862 (+22) with Georgia and Georgia Tech tying for third at 864 (+24) and the Gators coming in fifth at 866 (+26) after a final round 290 (+10). Florida has now placed in the top five at regionals in 11 of 16 opportunities.
Wake Forest's Bill Haas won the individual title by one stroke over Villegas and Kenneth Fahey of Rhode Island after a final round 70 left Haas at 207 (-3) at the par 70, 6,749-yard course. Villegas became the first player at Florida to finish in the top 20 at regionals four times. He posted his ninth even or under par round in 12 career rounds at regional competition and his team leading 27th of the season. Villegas has now finished in the top five in his last five tournaments and in the top 20 in 17 of his last 18 tournaments.
Sophomore Matt Every (Daytona Beach, Fla.) closed out the tournament with a final round 76 (+6) to finish in a tie for 31st at 219 (+9). It was just the third tournament of the season in which Every didn't finish in the top 10 as well as the third in which he failed to record an even or under par round.
Playing in his first tournament of the spring, sophomore James Vargas (Miami, Fla.) finished one stroke behind Every in a tie for 41st at 220 (+10) after a final round score of 74 (+4).
Sophomore Brett Stegmaier (Madison, Conn.) rebounded from rough first and second rounds to shoot an even par 70 to close out the tournament. He finished tied for 68th at 225 (+15). His third round score matched his second best final round score this season and was his 13th even or under par round on the year.
Rounding out the Gators was freshman Jessie Mudd (Louisville, Ky.) who carded a 78 (+8) in the final round to finish the tournament tied for 81st with a three-round score of 227 (+17).
Florida will join 29 other teams at the NCAA Championships. The appearance will be the 41st in the program's history as the Gators also will play in the event for the 21st time in the last 22 years.
TEAM STANDINGS
| Place | Team | 1st Round | 2nd Round | 3rd Round | Total | Over/Under Par |
| 1. | Clemson | 288 | 291 | 277 | 856 | +16 |
| 2. | Penn State | 290 | 285 | 287 | 862 | +22 |
| T3. | Georgia Tech | 291 | 288 | 285 | 864 | +24 |
| T3. | Georgia | 287 | 293 | 284 | 864 | +24 |
| 5. | Florida | 286 | 290 | 290 | 866 | +26 |
| 6. | Auburn | 294 | 286 | 287 | 867 | +27 |
| 7. | Georgia State | 288 | 300 | 283 | 871 | +31 |
| 8. | Rhode Island | 292 | 289 | 296 | 877 | +37 |
| 9. | Vanderbilt | 299 | 291 | 290 | 880 | +40 |
| T10. | North Carolina | 294 | 283 | 305 | 882 | +42 |
| T10. | N.C. State | 299 | 290 | 293 | 882 | +42 |
| T12. | Wake Forest | 296 | 288 | 299 | 883 | +43 |
| T12. | LSU | 304 | 292 | 287 | 883 | +43 |
| T12. | Duke | 294 | 295 | 294 | 883 | +43 |
| 15. | Georgia Southern | 302 | 292 | 291 | 885 | +45 |
| 16. | Jacksonville State | 306 | 282 | 299 | 887 | +47 |
| 17. | South Carolina | 299 | 293 | 297 | 889 | +49 |
| 18. | Tennessee | 297 | 292 | 302 | 891 | +51 |
| 19. | Augusta State | 304 | 292 | 301 | 897 | +57 |
| 20. | Maryland | 306 | 298 | 301 | 905 | +65 |
| 21. | UAB | 294 | 303 | 313 | 910 | +70 |
| 22. | Georgetown | 304 | 307 | 303 | 914 | +74 |
| T23. | Binghamton | 312 | 297 | 315 | 924 | +84 |
| T23. | Army | 310 | 304 | 310 | 924 | +84 |
| 25. | Towson | 310 | 300 | 315 | 925 | +85 |
| 26. | Yale | 311 | 302 | 315 | 928 | +88 |
| 27. | Long Island | 321 | 313 | 334 | 968 | +128 |
* Teams in bold advance to NCAA Championships
FLORIDA RESULTS
| Place | Player | 1st Round | 2nd Round | 3rd Round | Total | Over/Under Par |
| 2. | Camilo Villegas | 68 | 70 | 70 | 208 | -2 |
| T31. | Matt Every | 72 | 71 | 76 | 219 | +9 |
| T41. | James Vargas | 72 | 74 | 74 | 220 | +10 |
| T68. | Brett Stegmaier | 76 | 79 | 70 | 225 | +15 |
| T81. | Jessie Mudd | 74 | 75 | 78 | 227 | +17 |
