Florida Gators
Tavistock Collegiate Invitational
Florida Men’s Golf Wraps up Tavistock Collegiate Invitational with Season-Low Scores
Tuesday, October 21, 2014 | Men's Golf
Senior J.D. Tomlinson earned a share of third place and led the University of Florida men's golf team to season-low round and tournament scores at the Tavistock Collegiate Invitational Tuesday.
The Gators shot a 2-under 286 in the final round of play, for a tournament total of 2-under 862. Those season-low numbers helped Florida earn an 11th-place finish among a tough field consisting of seven top-25 teams.
Tomlinson shot a career-best 10-under 206 at the tournament, highlighted by seven birdies and a 6-under 66 in the final round.
Junior A.J. Crouch tied his career-low round Tuesday, shooting a 2-under 70, and recorded his season-low tournament score, a 6-over 222.
Senior Thomas Stewart finished the event with his lowest 54-hole score of the season, a 5-over 221.
Freshman Ryan Celano shot a 1-over 73 for the day, finishing the tournament with a 3-over 219. Senior Eric Banks, who shot a 1-over 73 in both the first and second rounds, slipped in the final day and recorded a 5-over 77.
Florida State edged out Vanderbilt by two strokes to capture the team title with a 37-under 827. However, it was Vanderbilt's Hunter Stewart who notched a 13-under 203 to take the individual honors.
The Orange and Blue return to action in less than a week, when the Gators travel to Estero, Fla., to compete in the two-day Florida Gulf Coast Invitational beginning Monday.
Head Coach JC Deacon:
On the team's performance in the third round:
“We shot 2-under today, so that was our best score of the year. That was spearheaded by J.D. Tomlinson. I was with him the whole day. I walked all 18 holes with him. It was just an absolute pleasure watching him. He put on a clinic out there, so that was really nice to see. Hopefully that gets his confidence going to spark a big-time year, and hopefully he can go and compete for the individual championship next week (at the Florida Gulf Coast Invitational). All in all, having our best round was good. We didn't finish well. Eric Banks had a big number coming in, and that really hurt us. We were right in the thick of it for sixth, seventh, eighth place there for a while, but we just let it go at the end a little, which was disappointing. But, it was a big, big step in the right direction.”
On A.J. Crouch's improvement in the final round:
“We talked about it last night, and A.J.'s been playing some good golf. I pretty much told him, 'You need to go and do it tomorrow. You're getting the ball better, you're playing better and you're feeling better. You just have to go and make it happen.' Sometimes, that's the case with golf. You can't hope you're going to play better or wish you'd play better, you just have to go and make it happen, and he did that today, and I'm really proud of him.”
On looking forward to the final tournament of the fall season next week:
“I think they should go down there and compete for the title. The field is not going to be as strong as some of the ones we've played in so far, and I think all of the guys are starting to play some of their better golf. We're coming together as a group, and I think they should be very competitive.”
The Orange and Blue Crew:
| Tavistock Collegiate Invitational – Final Florida Player Results | ||
| Place | Player | Score |
| T3 | -10 (68-72-66-206) | |
| T46 | +3 (75-71-73-219) | |
| T55 | +5 (71-73-77-221) | |
| T58 | +6 (75-77-70-222) | |
| T61 | +7 (73-73-77-223) | |
Tournament Field Results:
| Tavistock Collegiate Invitational – Final Team Scores | ||
| Place | Team | Score |
| 1 | Florida State | -37 (270-282-275-827) |
| 2 | Vanderbilt | -35 (271-279-279-829) |
| 3 | Texas Tech | -26 (267-287-284-838) |
| 4 | Illinois | -23 (276-289-276-841) |
| 5 | North Florida | -15 (278-288-283-849) |
| 6 | California | -11 (283-286-284-853) |
| 7 | Baylor | -8 (283-288-285-856) |
| T8 | UNLV | -7 (288-290-279-857) |
| T8 | New Mexico | -7 (280-290-287-857) |
| 10 | GRU-Augusta | -5 (288-283-288-859) |
| 11 | FLORIDA | -2 (287-289-286-862) |
| 12 | UCF | E (287-291-286-864) |
| 13 | Arkansas | +7 (288-299-284-871) |
| 14 | Georgia | +13 (287-296-294-877) |
| 15 | Indiana | +18 (290-296-296-882) |
| Tavistock Collegiate Invitational – Final Individual Top 10 | ||
| Place | Player (School) | Score |
| 1 | Hunter Stewart (Vanderbilt) | -13 (65-72-66-203) |
| 2 | Carson Jacobs (Vanderbilt) | -12 (68-65-71-204) |
| T3 | J.D. Tomlinson (FLORIDA) | -10 (68-72-66-206) |
| T3 | Hannes Ronneblad (Texas Tech) | -10 (67-69-70-206) |
| T3 | Rowin Caron (Florida State) | -10 (69-68-69-206) |
| T3 | Jack Maguire (Florida State) | -10 (68-70-68-206) |
| T7 | Hank Lebioda (Florida State) | -9 (68-72-67-207) |
| T7 | Theo Humphrey (Vanderbilt) | -9 (69-69-69-207) |
| T9 | Gavin Green (New Mexico) | -8 (67-71-70-208) |
| T9 | John Oda (UNLV) | -8 (70-68-70-208) |
| T9 | Charlie Danielson (Illinois) | -8 (69-70-69--208) |
| T9 | Clement Sordet (Texas Tech) | -8 (67-69-72-208) |
Up Next for the Gators: Florida will stay in the Sunshine State for its fourth and final fall tournament, traveling to Estero to compete in the Florida Gulf Coast Invitational Oct. 27-28. Hosted by Florida Gulf Coast, the event will be played at the Old Corkscrew Golf Club.
For complete coverage of the Gators' men's golf program, visit GatorZone.com, follow @GatorZoneGolf on Twitter and 'like' the University of Florida Men's Golf page on Facebook.
