Florida Gators
Sea Best Invitational
Gators Men's Golf, T.J. Vogel Capture Sea Best Invitational Titles
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 | Men's Golf
The Florida men's golf team used a final round 297 to win the 2012 Sea Best Invitational by 15 strokes over Liberty at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. It marks the second straight year that the Gators have won the tournament, which was formerly known as the JU Invitational. For the tournament, UF was led by junior T.J. Vogel (Cooper City, Fla.) who took home medalist honors after firing a three-round total of 216 (E).
“Today was a good day for us,” said head coach Buddy Alexander. “We didn't have our good stuff but we gutted it out. The best part about this win is that we worked so hard during the break and to see immediate results is really great. Golf is a funny game and sometimes you can put in a lot of work and not see results for a long time, sometimes never, so to go out there and get this win sets a really good tone for the rest of the spring.”
Vogel, who had finished in the top-eight of his last three events, carded a solid final round of 74 (+2) to claim the first individual title of his career. Vogel used four birdies, countered by four bogeys and a double, to win the event by two-strokes over Rhys Enoch of East Tennessee State and Harold Varner of East Carolina.
“It was really cool for T.J. to get the first win of his career here,” Alexander said. “He was one of the guys who didn't have his best stuff today but was able to put tougher a solid round to help him win the tournament.”
Tyler McCumber (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) fired his second consecutive round in the red with a one-under 71 to finish the tournament tied for 11th. McCumber got off to a solid start on the day making a birdie on the par-5 second and adding another on the par-4 sixth to go out in 34 (-2). On his homeward half, McCumber started slow with a pair of bogeys to get his round back to level par, but the junior was able to get a shot back with a birdie at the famed 17th island green to finish the day at -1.
“I'm really proud of how Tyler bounced back after the first round,” Alexander explained. “It shows a lot about his drive and work ethic to go out there and put up back-to-back rounds under par after a tough 83 in round one.”
Freshman Eric Banks (Truro, Canada) joined McCumber in11th place after a final round 74. After making the turn in three-over 39, Banks was able to right the ship and used birdies on 13 and 16 to come in with a 35 and post the best finish of his young career.
Following a final round 78, senior Michael Furci (Sayville, N.Y.) earned his first top-20 finish of the year after closing the tournament in 11-over, while junior Tommy Mou (Bradenton, Fla.) rounded out the Gators in the field with a three round total of 236.
The Gators will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 11, when they host the SunTrust Gator Invitational at the Mark Bostick Golf Course. Admission is free to the public. The event has also been designated a Rowdy Reptiles check-in event where students can scan their Gator 1 cards to earn 10 points.
Team Results
| Place | Team | To Par | Round One | Round Two | Round Three | Total |
| 1 | Florida | +20 | 303 | 284 | 297 | 884 |
| 2 | Liberty | +35 | 301 | 297 | 301 | 899 |
| 3 | UNF | +38 | 301 | 304 | 297 | 902 |
| 4 | East Carolina | +45 | 317 | 296 | 296 | 909 |
| 5 | Coastal Carolina | +47 | 315 | 294 | 302 | 911 |
| 6 | East Tennessee St. | +56 | 315 | 298 | 307 | 920 |
| 7 | Old Dominion | +59 | 308 | 301 | 314 | 923 |
| 8 | Florida Gulf Coast | +60 | 308 | 313 | 303 | 924 |
| 9 | Mercer | +61 | 304 | 306 | 315 | 925 |
| 10 | Charleston Southern | +62 | 315 | 312 | 299 | 926 |
| 11 | Jacksonville St. | +64 | 322 | 308 | 298 | 928 |
| 12 | Jacksonville | +71 | 317 | 305 | 313 | 935 |
| 13 | Georgia State | +76 | 319 | 307 | 314 | 940 |
Top 10 Individuals
| Place | Player (School) | To Par | Round One | Round Two | Round Three | Total |
| 1 | T.J. Vogel (Florida) | E | 73 | 69 | 74 | 216 |
| T2 | Rhys Enoch (ETSU) | +2 | 77 | 71 | 70 | 218 |
| T2 | Harold Varner (ECU) | +2 | 74 | 70 | 74 | 218 |
| T4 | Kevin Aylwin (UNF) | +3 | 73 | 76 | 70 | 219 |
| T4 | Robert Karlsson (Liberty) | +3 | 75 | 70 | 74 | 219 |
| T4 | Jamey Salmon (JU) | +3 | 73 | 73 | 73 | 219 |
| 7 | Brandon Pena (FGCU) | +4 | 70 | 73 | 77 | 220 |
| T8 | Joey Petronio (UNF) | +5 | 74 | 74 | 73 | 221 |
| T9 | Ryan Eibner (ECU) | +6 | 75 | 71 | 76 | 222 |
| T9 | Ian McConnell (Liberty) | +6 | 71 | 75 | 76 | 222 |
Florida Results
| Place | Player | To Par | Round One | Round Two | Round Three | Total |
| 1 | T.J. Vogel | E | 73 | 69 | 74 | 216 |
| T11 | Eric Banks | +7 | 77 | 72 | 74 | 223 |
| T11 | Tyler McCumber | +7 | 83 | 69 | 71 | 223 |
| T20 | Michael Furci | +11 | 75 | 74 | 78 | 227 |
| T43 | Tommy Mou | +20 | 78 | 78 | 80 | 236 |
--UF--
