No. 7 Men?s Golf Storms Into Second-Place @ NCAA East Region

Saturday, May 21, 2005 | Men's Golf

The No. 7 Florida men's golf team fired a tournament-best 14-under par second round at the 2005 NCAA East Regional Golf Tournament, to move into second-place with an 11-under par total score of 557. The Gators trail Wake Forest by only three strokes entering the final round of play that is scheduled for tomorrow at The Golf Club of Tennessee.

Florida's stellar second round comeback gave the Gators their best competitive round of the season in relation to both score and par, however the 14-under par score of 270 tied for the fifth-best round since 1981-82 in relation to par and the seventh-best round when classified only by the score.

“Today was a very good day,” Head Coach Buddy Alexander said. “We had two guys account for a terrific day, while the other three guys played reasonably well. I think we've conceivably placed ourselves in a position to win the tournament, which will be our goal tomorrow.”

Junior Matt Every (Daytona Beach, Fla.) fired a career-best eight-under par 63 to storm into third-place overall and move to eight-under par for the tournament. Every, fired the best round by a Gator this season and the best round by a Florida golfer since Camilo Villegas fired a 62 on May 8, 2003 at the Atlanta Intercollegiate. The historic round by Every became the third-best round since 1981-82 in terms of score and tied for third-best at eight-under in relation to par. Every now owns the second-best round in terms of score by a UF junior since 1981-82.

“Matt hit a bunch of quality shots today,” Alexander said. “He made a couple great putts and really played his best golf today.”

Matching his career and season-best round of 65, junior James Vargas (Miami, Fla.) moved to six-under par with a total score of 136. Vargas had his best stuff as he traversed the 6,864-yard course without a bogey.

It is the first time since Feb. 13, 1999, that two Gators fired rounds of 65 or better in the same tournament round. The last UF duo to record rounds of 65 or better in the same round was Steve Scott and Taylor Walsh as they opened the 1999 Gator Invitational with scores of 63 and 65 respectively.

Redshirt senior Richard Treis (Baden-Baden, Germany) had a strong second round as he notched a one-under par score of 70. The second round effort by Treis moved him to two-over par for the tournament and gives him a two-round total of 144.

Junior Brett Stegmaier (Madison, Conn.) duplicated his one-over par opening round score of 72 in the second round to give him a two-over par tournament total of 144.

Having a steady tournament, redshirt senior Duke Butler (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) carded a three-over par score of 74 in the second round to go with his opening two-over par effort of 73. For the tournament Butler is five-over par and on pace to have his best tournament of the season.

The 2005 NCAA East Regional Tournament concludes tomorrow with the final 18 holes at The Golf Club of Tennessee. The top 10 teams from each of the three competing regions will advance to the 2005 NCAA Championships at the Caves Valley Country Club in Baltimore, Md. on May 31-June 3.

Team Results:

Place	Team	Round 1	Round 2	Total	Relation to Par
1.	Wake Forest	271	283	554	-14
2.	Florida	287	270	557	-11
T3.	Georgia	275	283	558	-10
T3.	Tennessee	282	276	558	-10
5.	Duke	287	272	559	-9
6.	East Tennessee State	281	285	566	-2
T7.	Alabama	280	287	567	-1
T7.	Louisville	285	282	567	-1
9.	Georgia Tech	285	283	568	E
10.	Georgia Southern	281	288	569	+1
11.	Georgia State	279	291	570	+2
T12.	Virginia	290	282	572	+4
T12.	Clemson	285	287	572	+4
14.	Coastal Carolina	284	289	573	+5
15.	North Carolina	276	298	574	+6
T16.	Charlotte	291	289	580	+12
T16.	UCF	278	302	580	+12
18.	Indiana	294	292	586	+18
19.	Towson	293	295	588	+20
20.	Penn State	293	299	592	+24
T21.	Vanderbilt	301	294	595	+27
T21.	Maryland	304	291	595	+27
23.	Rutgers	306	291	597	+29
24.	UNC-Wilmington	298	304	602	+34
25.	Army	298	306	604	+36
26.	Rhode Island	309	315	624	+56
27.	Boston College	318	315	633	+65

Florida Results:

Place	Player	Round 1	Round 2	Total	Relation to Par
T3.	Matt Every	71	63	134	-8
T9.	James Vargas	71	65	136	-6
T48.	Richard Treis	74	70	144	+2
T48.	Brett Stegmaier	72	72	144	+2
T72.	Duke Butler IV	73	74	147	+5