Florida Gators
Florida Gulf Coast Invitational
A.J. Crouch Wins FGCU Classic, Florida Men’s Golf Places Second
Tuesday, October 28, 2014 | Men's Golf
Junior A.J. Crouch shot a 2-under 214 to capture the individual title at the Homewood/Hilton Garden Airport & FGCU Classic on Tuesday and lead the University of Florida Men's Golf Team to a season-best, second-place team finish.
Crouch shot an even par 72 to secure the victory by two strokes over a pair of golfers from Florida State, Hank Lebioda and Josh Lee. It marked the first individual title by a Gator since T.J. Vogel claimed the Charleston Shootout on Feb. 27-28, 2012. Seniors J.D. Tomlinson and Thomas Stewart also both shot a 72 in the final round. Tomlinson finished the tournament with a 7-over 223 to finish tied for 12th, and Stewart recorded a 9-over 225 to earn a share of 16th place.
Freshman Ryan Celano shot a 6-over 78 today, but his solid first two rounds lifted him to a 7-over 223 total, good for a share of 12th place. Sophomore Ryan Orr finished the tournament with an 11-over 227 to tie for 21st, while freshman Ramsey Touchberry and junior Richard Donegan, competing as individuals, finished with totals of 15-over 231 and 19-over 235, respectively.
No. 2 Florida State shot a 3-over 867 to take the team crown. The Gators recorded a 16-over 880 to land in the runner-up spot, 15 shots ahead of the rest of the 14-team tournament field.
The FGCU Classic was the Orange and Blue's final tournament of the fall season. UF returns to action in early February, when it opens the spring season at the Sea Best Invitational in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Assistant Coach John Handrigan:
On A.J. Crouch's victory:
“A.J. (Crouch) was playing great, and I was proud of him. Today, I was definitely impressed, not just because he won, but because of how he handled himself on the course. Coach and I – it's been a long three years – but we've been working on his attitude and demeanor on the golf course, and today he had a lot of adversity thrown his way, and he handled it like a man. It was great to watch out there – how he handled that adversity and pressed through. It was good to see him come through with that win.”
On A.J.'s reaction to winning:
“All day, he was calm and collected, and, at the end, we had a good feeling that he'd won. But, because there was no GolfStat live scoring, we didn't really know how he stood until we waited around after to watch the scores come up. It was a little bit nerve-racking, I think, for him for a little while because we didn't know how the other players had done. Once he'd won, I think it was a sigh of relief that he'd put a lot of energy into this week, and, I think it was a good feeling for him to get his first collegiate win as a Gator.”
On the Gators' performance:
“We're never content with second place, as we were here to win the tournament. Florida State played well, I feel like we pushed them pretty hard today. There was a point through about 11 holes where were neck-and-neck. I don't know exactly how we stood, but we were within a shot or two at that point. We just couldn't keep pressing on them, and they took us over at the end. We definitely worked hard, and the guys played hard, and, like I said, we're not always happy with second place, but it's a good way to end the fall on a positive note.”
The Orange and Blue Crew:
| Homewood/Hilton Garden Airport & FGCU Classic – Final Florida Player Results | ||
| Place | Player | Score |
| 1 | -2 (67-75-72-214) | |
| T12 | +7 (75-76-72-223) | |
| T12 | +7 (73-72-78-223) | |
| T16 | +9 (75-78-72-225) | |
| T21 | +11 (70-79-78-227) | |
| 38 | +15 (77-70-84-231) | |
| T42 | +19 (78-76-81-235) | |
*Denotes playing as an individual
Tournament Field Results:
| Homewood/Hilton Garden Airport & FGCU Classic – Final team Scores | ||
| Place | Team | Score |
| 1 | Florida State | +3 (290-288-289-867) |
| 2 | FLORIDA | +16 (285-301-294-880) |
| 3 | Saint Mary's (Calif.) | +31 (299-301-295-895) |
| 4 | Loyola (Md.) | +34 (299-294-305-898) |
| 5 | FGCU | +39 (296-302-305-903) |
| T6 | St. John's | +42 (300-300-306-906) |
| T6 | Stetson | +42 (303-299-304-906) |
| 8 | Miami (Ohio) | +46 (299-304-307-910) |
| 9 | Ball State | +56 (315-299-306-920) |
| 10 | Bethune-Cookman | +63 (318-309-300-927) |
| 11 | Arkansas State | +67 (306-310-315-931) |
| 12 | Ohio | +76 (317-318-305-940) |
| 13 | Murray State | +93 (320-311-326-957) |
| 14 | Florida Atlantic | +99 (322-309-332-963) |
| Homewood/Hilton Garden Airport & FGCU Classic – Final Individual Top 10 | ||
| Place | Player (School) | Score |
| 1 | A.J. Crouch (FLORIDA) | -2 (67-75-72-214) |
| T2 | Hank Lebioda (Florida State) | E (73-73-70-216) |
| T2 | Josh Lee (Florida State) | E (72-70-74-216) |
| T4 | Jonathan De Los Reye (St. Mary's) | +1 (74-73-70-217) |
| T4 | McCormick Clouser (Ball State) | +1 (77-69-71-217) |
| T6 | Jack Maguire (Florida State) | +2 (71-73-74-218) |
| T6 | Matt Oshrine (Loyola (Md.)) | +2 (74-73-71-218) |
| 8 | Rowin Caron (Florida State) | +3 (74-74-71-219) |
| 9 | Jeremy Wall (Loyola (Md.)) | +5 (72-70-79-221) |
| T10 | Jake Sherwin (FGCU) | +6 (73-76-73-222) |
| T10 | Matt Taylor (Stetson) | +6 (74-69-79-222) |
Up Next for the Gators: The FGCU Classic was the final fall tournament for Florida. The Gators will open the spring season on Feb. 2 at the Sea Best Invitational. The two-day event will be played at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach and will be hosted by Jacksonville University.
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.
