Florida Gators
SEC Championship
Banks Shoots Under-Par for Second Consecutive Day as SEC Play Concludes
Sunday, April 27, 2014 | Men's Golf
Shooting 1-under for the second consecutive day, junior Eric Banks wrapped up round three of the SEC Championship with a 211 to conclude play at 1-over overall, T26. Banks bogeyed just twice this afternoon, sinking three birdies and shooting even the rest of the way to hold steady in the top 30.
As a team, Florida slipped off the pace after shooting 6-over today, ending play with a final score of 859. The Gators finished 19-over collectively, sharing 12th place with Tennessee. No. 1 Alabama took the crown for the third-straight year, shooting an impressive 806 (-34) to shatter multiple tournament records including the low-54 record set by Georgia in 2006 (827).
Freshman Ryan Orr continued his consistent play for Florida, shooting 1-over. Orr fired rounds of 70-74-71, tallying a team-leading four birdies this afternoon. Junior J.D. Tomlinson carded rounds of 72-73-72 while sophomore Richard Donegan notched a 219 and freshman Victor Tarnstrom rounded out the lineup with a 229.
Buddy's Bite: “Today was an emotional day for all of us. We didn't play our best, but proud of these kids. They did their absolute best today for the Gators and they hung in there. I'm proud of them. They're a good group of kids; they're young and their best golf is in front of them. Like I said, not the best, but it wasn't about the score today. It was about effort and that was there. They have a bright future and I'm looking forward to watching them improve and have a lot of success down the road. Hopefully we did some things this year for that to be the case.”
On the praise he received from teams and fans:
“Well, this tournament shouldn't be about me, it should be about the kids but that was the highlight of the week for me. I had a bunch of former players show up today, I wasn't expecting that. That was pretty cool. The coolest part of it though was when the leaders were finishing up on 18 as we were finishing up on nine and there was a time on the 18 green where nobody was playing. The bigger crowd was over there and I looked over and those people were standing and clapping. That was pretty special. I never had dreamed or expected anything like that. That was pretty cool.”
The Orange and Blue Crew:
| SEC Championship – Final Florida Player Results | |||
| Place | Player | Rounds 1-2-3 | Score |
| T26 | Eric Banks | 73-69-69 | +1 (211) |
| T36 | Ryan Orr | 70-74-71 | +5 (215) |
| T51 | J.D. Tomlinson | 73-72-73 | +8 (218) |
| T56 | Richard Donegan | 76-70-73 | +9 (219) |
| 69 | Victor Tarnstrom | 85-70-74 | +19 (229) |
Leaderboard (Golf World/Nike Golf Division I Coaches' Poll):
| SEC Championship – Final Team Scores | |||
| Place | Team | Round 1-2-3 | Score |
| 1 | Alabama (1) | 272-266-268 | -34 (806) |
| 2 | LSU (22) | 284-275-263 | -18 (822) |
| 3 | Auburn (22) | 274-281-274 | -11 (829) |
| 4 | Georgia (5) | 277-284-272 | -7 (833) |
| 5 | South Carolina (24) | 277-278-283 | -2 (838) |
| T6 | Missouri | 288-280-274 | +2 (842) |
| T6 | Arkansas (19) | 280-287-275 | +2 (842) |
| 8 | Kentucky | 287-284-273 | +4 (844) |
| T9 | Texas A&M (12) | 288-286-275 | +9 (849) |
| T9 | Mississippi State | 287-281-281 | +9 (849) |
| 11 | Vanderbilt (14) | 288-288-276 | +12 (852) |
| T12 | FLORIDA | 292-281-286 | +19 (859) |
| T12 | Tennessee | 289-290-280 | +19 (859) |
| 14 | Ole Miss | 292-293-290 | +35 (875) |
| SEC Championship – Final Top 10 | |||
| Place | Player | Rounds 1-2-3 | Score |
| 1 | Bobby Wyatt (Alabama) | 65-61-66 | -18 (192) |
| 2 | Smylie Kaufman (LSU) | 67-68-64 | -11 (199) |
| 3 | Robby Shelton (Alabama) | 67-67-66 | -10 (200) |
| 4 | Chad Ramey (Mississippi State) | 70-70-64 | -6 (204) |
| T5 | David Snyder (Kentucky) | 69-71-65 | -5 (205) |
| T5 | Greg Yates (Texas A&M) | 72-67-66 | -5 (205) |
| T5 | Niclas Carlsson (Auburn) | 67-69-69 | -5 (205) |
| T5 | Will Murphy (South Carolina) | 66-68-71 | -5 (205) |
| T9 | Emilio Cuartero (Missouri) | 71-68-67 | -4 (206) |
| T9 | Cory Whitsett (Alabama) | 68-71-67 | -4 (206) |
Follow the Gators: For the first time in NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Golf Championships history, the teams and individuals that will participate in this year's golf championships will be announced live on national television on Golf Channel. The 2014 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships selections will be announced live on May 5 from 10-11 a.m. during Morning Drive, Golf Channel's daily morning news and lifestyle show.
Additionally, Morning Drive will be streamed live on Golf Channel's website via Golf Live Extra at golfchannel.com and posted afterward on ncaa.com. The selections news release will be available on ncaa.com immediately following completion of Morning Drive.
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.
