Gators in Fourth After Dominant Performance

Monday, October 26

Nashville, TN

Florida Gators

Vanderbilt Legends Collegiate

Ricky Castillo Round 1 - Blessings Collegiate

Gators in Fourth After Dominant Performance

Monday, October 26, 2020 | Men's Golf

The Florida men’s golf team recorded a season-low round after carding an 11-under par 273 in the second round at Vanderbilt.

By: Morgan Perry

FRANKLIN, Tenn. – The Florida men's golf team recorded 24 birdies and saw four Gators finish under par on their way to an 11-under par round, rocketing up four spots on the scoreboard to sit in fourth place heading into the final round of competition at the Vanderbilt Legends Collegiate.

Ricky Castillo led the way for the Gators in the second round, posting a nearly perfect scorecard that included six birdies and only one bogey. The sophomore was focused from the beginning, carding three of those birdies within the first four holes. He currently sits in a tie for 20th as Florida heads into the final round of competition.

Freshman Joe Pagdin posted his second round 3-under par in a row. Pagdin made the turn 1-under after carding birdies on the eighth and ninth hole. The freshman never wavered, even after a double-bogey on the thirteenth hole threatened to erase his work. The England native locked in, recording three birdies within five holes, including the final two holes of the round. He currently sits 6-under par after two rounds and in a tie for 13th place individually.

Fred Biondi continued his consistent play, carding another round under par after recording back-to-back birdies to finish out the back nine. He is tied for 16th currently with a scorecard 5-under par as the Gators head into the final round.

Giovanni Manzoni rounded out the group of Gators under par, recording a 1-under 70 behind the work of six birdies. He will enter the final round of competition tied for 25th on the individual leaderboard.

The Gators will head back to the course tomorrow for a 10:20 a.m. ET tee time in the final round of competition.

Head Coach JC Deacon's Take
On today's round…
"Best round of the year for us to date. It's always extremely positive when we get to count four under par scores. Our team score of 11-under par was the third best score of the day and helped us move up the leaderboard, but I do feel we are capable of even better."

On Ricky Castillo…
"Ricky played nicely today when we really needed it. He's always had a knack for doing that. It was fun to see his putter get hot. He was walking them in from all over the place. He's been really close for a while now and I'm happy he got to post a round in the mid-60s. That's who he is."

On tomorrow's expectations…
"Tomorrow is a great opportunity for all of us. We are in the mix and still have a chance to win if we can get super-hot. Our guys are feeling good and we just need to focus on keeping things simple and getting as many looks as possible."

Final thoughts…
"We are learning a lot as a group and getting better every single round. That's exactly what you want to see this time of year. I'm excited for tomorrow to see what we can accomplish as a group."

Results
Team Leaderboard

Pos.	Team	R1	R2	Score
1	Vanderbilt	271	265	536 (-32)
2	Texas A&M	272	275	546 (-22)
3	Georgia	275	272	547 (-21)
4	*Florida*	*277*	*273*	*550 (-18)*
5	LSU	276	275	551 (-17)
T6	Arkansas	272	280	552 (-16)
T6	Tennessee	276	276	552 (-16)
T8	Ole Miss	276	281	557 (-11)
T8	Alabama	279	278	557 (-11)
10	South Carolina	280	281	561 (-7)
11	Missouri	284	278	562 (-6)
12	Auburn	278	287	565 (-3)
13	Kentucky	285	281	566 (-2)
14	Mississippi State	286	290	576 (+8)

Individual Leaderboard

Pos.	Name	R1	R2	Score
T13	Joe Pagdin	68	68	136 (-6)
T16	Fred Biondi	68	69	137 (-5)
T20	Ricky Castillo	72	66	138 (-4)
T25	Giovanni Manzoni	69	70	139 (-3)
T60	Tyler Wilkes	74	72	146 (+4)