Florida had the lowest team round (-10) and individual round (-5) in day two of the SEC Championship.
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, GA. – The Florida men’s golf team used a 10-under round two performance to climb four spots into T2 on day two of the SEC Championship. Individually, freshman Jack Turner shot a bogey-free 5-under 65 and enters one back of the lead into tomorrow’s final round of stroke play.
The Gators had the best team (-10) and individual round (-5 from Turner) of the day at Sea Island Golf Club. Florida is tied with Georgia for second at 11-under and four back of leader Vanderbilt (-15). The three schools tee off tomorrow at 8 a.m. for the final round of stroke play as the top-8 teams will advance to match play. UF looks to reach match play for the third consecutive season as last year the Gators took third in stroke play.
UF’s score of 270 today was one shot back of the fourth-lowest team score at the postseason tournament that the Gators have recorded three times; 2022, 2017 and 2006. It is the second-best round through this season’s postseason tournament only back of Vanderbilt’s opening round of 269.
Through 36-holes, it is part two for the Florida with another newcomer stepping up on the big stage like redshirt-freshman Matthew Kress, who finished T19 in stroke play and went 3-0 in match with wins to clinch the quarterfinals and semifinals last season. This year it is Jack Turner.
Turner, a freshman from Orlando, recorded a career-low and bogey-free 5-under 65 this afternoon and is 7-under overall. In his 19 rounds this season, 13 are for par or better. The round was also tied for the second-lowest all-time at the SEC Championships and one back of the record, which John DuBois, also from Orlando, shot when he won the SEC Individual Title in 2022.
A stretch of three consecutive birdies on holes 14-16 helped to total 11 this week for Turner, tied for the most in the field. He enters tomorrow’s final round of stroke play one back of the lead and aiming for his first collegiate title, which also DuBois earned when he won the conference title two seasons ago.
With a victory tomorrow, Turner would become the 26th Gator in program history to win the title as Florida has the most all-time with 25. It also would mark the fourth UF golfer to win in the last seven tournaments and fourth under head coach J.C. Deacon. – Alejandro Tosti (2017), Andy Zhang (2018) and DuBois (2022).
Finishing one shot behind Turner’s improvise round was Ian Gilligan with a 4-under 66 and is 3-under through 36-holes. He bounced back from an opening round of 71 (+1) and climbed to 21 spots into T14. After two bogeys in his first five holes, he went bogey-free with a stretch of four straight birdies to make the turn and capped off with a birdie on his final hole.
The third under-par round came from senior Tyler Wilkes with a 1-under 69. He improved three shots better than round one and set the pace for the Gators with a birdie on the first hole of the day. He sits T33 at 1-over with sophomore Parker Bell.
All four of Florida’s counting scores were par or better as Kress carded an even-par 70. He also produced a better round two score than his opening round of 72 (+2). A birdie-birdie stretch on holes 14 & 15 from him began a combined 9-under stretch from the Gators in the final five holes on the back nine.
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