Florida Gators
SEC Championship
Men's Golf Tied for Second after First Round of SEC Championship
Friday, April 16, 2010 | Men's Golf
Redshirt junior Andres Echavarria (Medellin, Colombia) carded a one-under 69 on Friday as the University of Florida men's golf team opened the 2010 SEC Championship in a tie for second place.
The Gators carded a team score of 280 (E) and are tied with Auburn. The teams are just two strokes away from Arkansas, who currently leads the field with a 278 (-2).
“We had a nice start today,” said head coach Buddy Alexander. “We got some good play out of Andres which was nice to see. But overall, everyone was solid today. We're in a good spot and we'll play with Auburn and Arkansas tomorrow. This is still a wide open affair. When you have as many teams as we do in the conference that are fairly even in talent, I wouldn't expect a lot of separation. If the conditions continue, I think we'll see a real close contest this weekend.”
Echavarria's first round score of 69 (-1) put him in a 10-way tie for fourth place. He began his round making bogeys on two of his first three holes. A birdie on four and eight and another bogey on nine put him at one-over entering the turn. In contrast to the start of his round, Echavarria made birdies on two of his first three holes on the back nine and concluded his first 18 holes of play by tallying six-straight pars.
Senior Tyson Alexander (Gainesville, Fla.) and junior Bank Vongvanij (Bradenton, Fla.) carded identical first round scores of even-par 70 to tie for 14th place. Alexander and Vongvanij each carded two bogeys and two birdies in their rounds. Vongvanij's bogeys came in his first four holes to enter the turn at two-over. He responded by making a birdie on 10 and 16 to finish even.
Making his first appearance in the post-season, freshman Phillip Choi (Orlando, Fla.) opened with a one-over 71 to tie for 26th. Senior Tim McKenney (Scottsdale, Ariz.) is in a tie for 48th following a round of 75 (+5).
The Gators return to action on Saturday for the second round. The squad will tee off beginning at 8:50 a.m. ET. Live scoring is available at www.golfstat.com or www.GatorZone.com.
Team Results After Round 1
| Place | Team | Score |
| 1 | Arkansas | 278 (-2) |
| T2 | Auburn | 280 (E) |
| T2 | FLORIDA | 280 (E) |
| T4 | South Carolina | 282 (+2) |
| T4 | Mississippi State | 282 (+2) |
| T6 | Georgia | 283 (+3) |
| T6 | Tennessee | 283 (+3) |
| T6 | LSU | 283 (+3) |
| 9 | Vanderbilt | 284 (+4) |
| 10 | Ole Miss | 288 (+8) |
| 11 | Kentucky | 296 (+16) |
| 12 | Alabama | 297 (+17) |
Individual Results After Round 1
| Place | Name | Score |
| T1 | Bryden Macpherson (Georgia) | 67 (-3) |
| T1 | Dalton Owens (Arkansas) | 67 (-3) |
| 3 | Trey DelGreco (Vanderbilt) | 68 (-2) |
| T4 | Andres Echavarria (Florida) | 69 (-1) |
| T4 | Wesley Bryan (South Carolina) | 69 (-1) |
| T4 | Austin Cook (Arkansas) | 69 (-1) |
| T4 | Hunter Hamrick (Alabama) | 69 (-1) |
| T4 | Lee Heaton (Mississippi State) | 69 (-1) |
| T4 | Will McCurdy (Auburn) | 69 (-1) |
| T4 | Cole Moreland (Auburn) | 69 (-1) |
| T4 | Robin Wingardh (Tennessee) | 69 (-1) |
| T4 | Jonathan Randolph (Ole Miss) | 69 (-1) |
| T4 | Billy Brozovich (Ole Miss) | 69 (-1) |
Florida Results After Round 1
| Place | Name | Score |
| T4 | Andres Echavarria | 69 (-1) |
| T14 | Tyson Alexander | 70 (E) |
| T14 | Bank Vongvanij | 70 (E) |
| T26 | Phillip Choi | 71 (+1) |
| T48 | Tim McKenney | 75 (+5) |
-UF-
