No. 10 Men's Golf Places Third at 2005 Southern Highlands Collegiate

Sunday, March 13

Las Vegas, NV

12:00 AM

Florida Gators

Las Vegas Intercollegiate

No. 10 Men's Golf Places Third at 2005 Southern Highlands Collegiate

Sunday, March 13, 2005 | Men's Golf

The No. 10 University of Florida men's golf team wrapped up the 2005 Southern Highlands Collegiate Championships at the Southern Highlands Golf Club by firing a two-under par final round score of 286 to finish in third-place. With an eight-over par tournament score of 872, the Gators finished 17 strokes behind the host No. 15 UNLV, the tournament's champion.

"We had another solid final day," Head Coach Buddy Alexander said. "It was nice to pick up a couple of spots in such a deep field. I think this tournament shows a continuation of our solid play this semester and I don't think we'll play against a better field until we reach NCAA competition."

Having another strong day on the links for the Gators, junior Matt Every (Daytona Beach, Fla.) completed the tournament with a three-under par total score of 213. By firing rounds of 77-67-69=213, Every placed fifth overall.

Closing out the final round with a team-best score of 68 (-4), junior Brett Stegmaier (Madison, Conn.) tallied a two-over par tournament total of 218. Shooting rounds of 74-76-68=218, Stegmaier tied for the No.15 place.

"Brett and Matt had strong days for us today and helped put us in a good position to move up in the standings," Alexander said.

Junior James Vargas (Miami, Fla.) remained consistent throughout the three-day tournament as he fired rounds of 72-73-74=219 (+3) to earn a tie for 18th-place.

Redshirt senior Richard Treis (Baden-Baden, Germany) recorded rounds of 73-74-75=222 (+3) to finish outside the top-20 for the first time this spring as he completed the three-round event in a tie for 25th-place.

Matching his second round total of six-over 78, redshirt freshman Manuel Villegas (Medellin, Colombia) finished the event with a three-round score of 237 (+21). Villegas, who was challenged all tournament by the 7,510-yard course, placed 73rd.

"I think we have played our last four tournaments in a very similar style and that has been very solid," Alexander said. "Sometimes that has been good enough to win, but if we keep doing what we're doing it has shown us that we have a chance to win a few tournaments and maybe win the big one if we can continue to play solid golf."

The 10th-ranked Gators will travel to Statesboro, Ga. on March 19-20 for the 2005 Chris Schenkel Invitational at the Forest Heights Country Club hosted by Georgia Southern.

Team Results:

Place	Team	1^st Round	2^nd Round	Final Round	Total	Under/Over Par
1.	UNLV	294	281	280	855	-9
2.	Georgia	296	281	293	870	+6
3.	Florida	296	290	286	872	+8
4.	Oklahoma State	292	284	298	874	+10
5.	Arizona State	288	288	300	876	+12
6.	Georgia Tech	297	283	297	877	+13
7.	Wake Forest	297	283	304	884	+20
8.	South Carolina	290	296	304	890	+26
9.	UCLA	290	303	298	891	+27
T10.	New Mexico	303	289	304	896	+32
T10.	TCU	300	296	300	896	+32
12.	Washington	293	303	305	901	+37
13.	Clemson	300	297	306	903	+39
14.	Auburn	299	300	306	905	+41
15.	Texas	302	302	304	908	+44

Florida Results:

Place	Name	1^st Round	2^nd Round	Final Round	Total	Under/Over Par
5.	Matt Every	77	67	69	213	-3
T15.	Brett Stegmaier	74	76	68	218	+2
T18.	James Vargas	72	73	74	219	+3
T25.	Richard Treis	73	74	75	222	+6
73.	Manuel Villegas	81	78	78	237	+21