Monday, February 6
Ponte Vedra, FL
All Day
Florida Gators
at
Sea Best Invitational
Gordon Neale shot back-to-back rounds of 68 to move into a tie for second place.
Gators Come Out Strong at Sea Best Invitational
Monday, February 6, 2017 | Men's Golf
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The University of Florida men's golf team opened its spring season on Monday at The TPC Sawgrass-Dye's Valley Course. The Gators first round total of 277 (-3) put the team in first, a place it would stay in after a 275 (-5) second round. The 552 (-8) total puts the Orange and Blue in first place over North Carolina by one stroke.
Sophomore Gordon Neale had a stellar day on the course, carding back-to-back 68 (-2) rounds to finish at 136 (-4), tied in second place with junior Alejandro Tosti. Tosti's day mirrored Neale's as he also shot two rounds of 68. The Argentinian finished his day on a high note, sinking a long birdie putt to close out the round.
Senior Ryan Orr had a standout day playing as an individual. After turning in a first round 67 (-3), Orr carded an ace on hole five of the second round on the way to a 66 (-4). The 133 (-7) put the senior at the top of the individual medal leaderboard by three strokes. Orr used an 8-iron from 166 yards on the hole-in-one. It was the seventh of his career, third in competition and first in a college event. With the scores in his two rounds on Monday, Orr's average over his last five rounds at the
Valley Course is 68.4.
Head Coach J.C. Deacon
On his team's performance during the first day:
"Honestly, I thought it was a little bit sloppy. We did a lot of good things, made a lot of birdies. Ryan (Orr) had a hole in one, which is pretty cool. But we made a lot of mistakes, too. We've got to be better tomorrow, clean that up, but we're in contention in a great spot and have a chance to win tomorrow."
On what his team has to do in the final round to come away with the victory:
"These guys are really comfortable in this position, it's nothing new. We just have to go out there and control what we can control and do our jobs and worry about what we have to do as individuals to play our best. If we do that, we'll be fine."
Rd. 1 Florida Scores
Team:
1. FLORIDA -8 (277-255-552)
2. North Carolina -7 (280-273-553)
3. Lipscomb E (278-282-560
4. Florida State +2 (281-281-561)
5. Arkansas +3 (291-272-563)
6. North Florida +5 (282-283-565)
7. Liberty +9 (283-286-569)
8. Jacksonville +11 (287-284-571)
9. Tennessee +15 (287-288-575)
10. Campbell +21 (296-285-581)
T11.SMU +28 (289-299-588)
T11.Dalton State +28 (294-294-588)
13. Charleston Sou. +39 (298-301-599)
14. USC Upstate +51 (307-304-611)
15. Winthrop +52 (305-307-612)
Players:
1. Ryan Orr* -7 (67-66-133)
T2. Gordon Neale -4 (68-68-136)
T2. Alejandro Tosti -4 (68-68-136)
T23. Jorge Garcia +3 (73-70-143)
T38. Ryan Celano +6 (68-78-146)
T47. Sam Horsfield +8 (79-69-148)
T70. A.J. Crouch* +12 (78-74-152)
*Playing as an individual
Full Leaderboard
Follow the Gators: The Orange and Blue will tee off the third round in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. Live scoring is available at Golfstat.com.
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Sophomore Gordon Neale had a stellar day on the course, carding back-to-back 68 (-2) rounds to finish at 136 (-4), tied in second place with junior Alejandro Tosti. Tosti's day mirrored Neale's as he also shot two rounds of 68. The Argentinian finished his day on a high note, sinking a long birdie putt to close out the round.
Senior Ryan Orr had a standout day playing as an individual. After turning in a first round 67 (-3), Orr carded an ace on hole five of the second round on the way to a 66 (-4). The 133 (-7) put the senior at the top of the individual medal leaderboard by three strokes. Orr used an 8-iron from 166 yards on the hole-in-one. It was the seventh of his career, third in competition and first in a college event. With the scores in his two rounds on Monday, Orr's average over his last five rounds at the
Valley Course is 68.4.
Head Coach J.C. Deacon
On his team's performance during the first day:
"Honestly, I thought it was a little bit sloppy. We did a lot of good things, made a lot of birdies. Ryan (Orr) had a hole in one, which is pretty cool. But we made a lot of mistakes, too. We've got to be better tomorrow, clean that up, but we're in contention in a great spot and have a chance to win tomorrow."
On what his team has to do in the final round to come away with the victory:
"These guys are really comfortable in this position, it's nothing new. We just have to go out there and control what we can control and do our jobs and worry about what we have to do as individuals to play our best. If we do that, we'll be fine."
Rd. 1 Florida Scores
Team:
1. FLORIDA -8 (277-255-552)
2. North Carolina -7 (280-273-553)
3. Lipscomb E (278-282-560
4. Florida State +2 (281-281-561)
5. Arkansas +3 (291-272-563)
6. North Florida +5 (282-283-565)
7. Liberty +9 (283-286-569)
8. Jacksonville +11 (287-284-571)
9. Tennessee +15 (287-288-575)
10. Campbell +21 (296-285-581)
T11.SMU +28 (289-299-588)
T11.Dalton State +28 (294-294-588)
13. Charleston Sou. +39 (298-301-599)
14. USC Upstate +51 (307-304-611)
15. Winthrop +52 (305-307-612)
Players:
1. Ryan Orr* -7 (67-66-133)
T2. Gordon Neale -4 (68-68-136)
T2. Alejandro Tosti -4 (68-68-136)
T23. Jorge Garcia +3 (73-70-143)
T38. Ryan Celano +6 (68-78-146)
T47. Sam Horsfield +8 (79-69-148)
T70. A.J. Crouch* +12 (78-74-152)
*Playing as an individual
Full Leaderboard
Follow the Gators: The Orange and Blue will tee off the third round in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. Live scoring is available at Golfstat.com.
FloridaGators.com
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