Florida Gators
Southern Highlands Collegiate
Men's Golf Earns Fourth Place Finish At The Southern Highlands Collegiate
Sunday, March 12, 2006 | Men's Golf
No. 3 Florida mounted a late comeback on Sunday to finish fourth at the Southern Highlands Collegiate Championship. The Gators carded a three-round total of 900 (+36) to finish two strokes ahead of Arizona State and Clemson.
Senior Brett Stegmaier (Madison, Conn.) led the charge by carding a team-best score of 72 (E) during the final round. Stegmaier tied for 13th-place to earn his third consecutive top-20 finish, with a three-round total of 223 (+7). Freshman Billy Horschel (Grant, Fla.) also earned his third straight top-20 finish with a 73 (+1) on Sunday. Horschel carded a 226 (+10), which was good enough to tie for 16th.
Seniors James Vargas (Miami, Fla.) and Matt Every (Daytona Beach, Fla.) both carded scores of 78 (+6) to finish the tournament. Freshman Toby Ragland (Jacksonville, Fla.) rounded out the Florida lineup by carding an 80 (+8).
“We needed to play our best round today,” Florida coach Buddy Alexander said. “To their credit they played well on the back-nine. Top five in this field is ok. We learned to play better when the weather wasn't good. This was a big week for us from a learning stand point.”
Tournament host UNLV captured the tournament title with a total score of 879 (+15). SEC rival Georgia finished second with a score of 889 (+25). UNLV's Matt Kinsinger took home the individual medal with a 214 (-2).
Florida will continue its season on March 18 at the Chris Schenkel Invitational in Statesboro, Ga.
Team Results
| Place | Team | Scores | Par |
| 1. | UNLV | 295-294-290 = 879 | + 2 |
| 2. | Georgia | 295-294-300 = 889 | +12 |
| 3. | Oklahoma State | 299-293-307 = 899 | +19 |
| 4. | Florida | 305-294-301 = 900 | +35 |
| T5. | Clemson | 301-294-307 = 902 | +36 |
| T5. | Arizona State | 311-288-303 = 902 | +38 |
| T5. | Texas A&M | 303-300-299 = 902 | +38 |
| 8. | UCLA | 304-287-313 = 904 | +40 |
| 9. | Georgia Tech | 297-296-318 = 911 | +47 |
| 10. | Duke | 310-304-306 =920 | +56 |
| 11. | Washington | 309-302-314 = 925 | +61 |
| 12. | New Mexico | 316-294-320 = 930 | +66 |
| 13. | Texas | 311-317-303 = 931 | +67 |
| 14. | Wake Forest | 315-303-316 = 934 | +70 |
| 15. | Arizona | 322-309-312 = 943 | +79 |
Florida Results
| Place | Player | Scores | Par |
| T13. | Brett Stegmaier | 74-77-72 = 223 | +7 |
| T16. | Bill Horschel | 78-75-73 = 226 | +10 |
| T20. | James Vargas | 74-75-78 = 227 | +11 |
| T25. | Matt Every | 79-71-78 = 228 | +12 |
| T64. | Toby Ragland | 83-73-80 = 236 | +20 |
