Gators in Second After Day One in Jacksonville

Monday, January 25

Jacksonville, FL

Florida Gators

Timuquana Collegiate

Gators in Second After Day One in Jacksonville

Monday, January 25, 2021 | Men's Golf

The Florida men’s golf team is in second place following a 17-under par 559 performance through two rounds at the Timuquana Collegiate.

By: Morgan Perry

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Florida men's golf team sits in second place after the first 36 holes of play at the Timuquana Collegiate.

The Gators currently sit seven strokes off of the leader, Virginia, heading into the final 18 holes of competition tomorrow.

Florida quickly jumped to the top of the leaderboard, alternating a one-stroke lead with Jacksonville for the majority of the round. After four Gators carded birdies on the 15th hole, Florida held a round-high three-stroke lead before settling into 2nd place at the conclusion of the first 18 holes of competition.

After an inconsistent start to the second round, Florida found its stride on the back nine and closed out the day with a combined 11 birdies on the last six holes against only one bogey. Individually, all five golfers in the Gators lineup carded scores below par.

Ricky Castillo led the way for the Gators through the first two rounds of competition. The sophomore carded an impressive 7-under par 137 to sit in a tie for sixth place individually.

Manny Girona and Tyler Wilkes both went into the clubhouse three under par and tied for 16th individually.

Yuxin Lin and Joe Pagdin rounded out the Florida lineup, both finishing with 1-under par 71 performances.

Individually, John DuBois led the way for Florida after entering the clubhouse with an even scorecard. Carlos Bustos sits one stroke behind and in a tie for 42nd.

The final round of competition is set to begin tomorrow morning at 8:05 a.m. ET.

Head Coach JC Deacon's Take
On returning to competition…
"It was so awesome to be back competing today, watching the boys do what they love. Timuquana is an incredible golf course and it was fun to take it on for 36 holes. We had an up and down afternoon, but our guys showed a ton of heart at the end and finished really strong; putting us in the final group with a chance to win. We are a very close team and the guys are loving battling together."

On Ricky Castillo…
"It was great to see Ricky so focused and calm today. He played like a champion all day and helped put us in this position."

On Tyler Wilkes and Manny Girona's performance…
"Tyler Wilkes came up so big with that first round 67. We all know how talented Tyler is and it was nice to see him put it together. I think this round will really help him get going this year. Manny was so solid today. Two under par rounds today is fantastic."

On Yuxin Lin's debut for the Gators…
"Yuxin is explosive and we are certainly lucky to have him. He's going to play a lot of great rounds for the Florida Gators."

Results
Team Leaderboard

Pos.	Team	Score
1	Virginia	552 (-24)
2	*Florida*	*559 (-17)*
3	Liberty	560 (-16)
4	Florida State	562 (-14)
5	Jacksonville	565 (-11)
T6	North Florida	568 (-8)
T6	Notre Dame	568 (-8)
T6	Oklahoma State	568 (-8)
9	Purdue	569 (-7)
10	UCF	570 (-6)
11	South Florida	571 (-5)

Individual Leaderboard

Pos.	Name	Score
T6	Ricky Castillo	137 (-7)
T16	Manny Girona	141 (-3)
T16	Tyler Wilkes	141 (-3)
T28	Yuxin Lin	143 (-1)
T28	Joe Pagdin	143 (-1)
T32	John DuBois	144 (E)
T42	Carlos Bustos	145 (+1)