The SEC and Regional Champions tee off Friday at 3:45 p.m. and Saturday at 10:25 a.m. at Omni La Costa.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Dates: Friday, May 23 – Wednesday, May 28
Location: Carlsbad, Calif. – Omni La Costa: North Course
Host: NCAA / University of Texas
Course Par/Yardage: 72 / 7,548 yards
Tee Times: 12:45 p.m. ET on Friday and 10:25 a.m. ET on Saturday, TBA other days
Scoring: Clippd<https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/236552/scoring/participants>
Watch: Golf Channel
Tickets: Click Here<https://texaslonghorns.evenue.net/events/MG>
Social Media: Twitter <https://twitter.com/GatorsGolf> | Instagram<https://www.instagram.com/gatorsmgolf/> | Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/GatorsMGolf>
TEE OFF
The SEC and Regional Champion Florida men’s golf team concludes the season at the NCAA National Championships at Omni La Costa from May 23-28. UF tees off round one at 12:45 p.m. on Friday and 10:25 a.m. on Saturday.
LINEUP
No. 1 – Ian Gilligan (Sr.)
No. 2 – Jack Turner (So.)
No. 3 – Luke Poulter (R-So.)
No. 4 – Matthew Kress (R-Jr.)
No. 5 – Zack Swanwick (Fr.)
Substitute – Parker Sands (Fr.)
THE FIELD (Seed Number)
No. 1 Auburn, No. 2 Oklahoma State, No. 3 Ole Miss, No. 4 Texas, No. 5 Arizona State, No. 6 Oklahoma, No. 7 Florida, No. 8 Florida State, No. 9 Virginia, No. 10 Texas A&M, No. 11 Illinois, No. 12 UCLA, No. 13 Vanderbilt, No. 14 BYU, No. 15 South Carolina, No. 16 Pepperdine, No. 17 Georgia, No. 18 Tennessee, No. 19 Texas Tech, No. 20 Georgia Tech, No. 21 South Florida, No. 22 Colorado, No. 23 UNLV, No. 24 Purdue, No. 25 San Diego, No. 26 Wake Forest, No. 27 New Mexico, No. 28 Troy, No. 29 California and No. 30 Augusta.
THE INDIVIDUAL FIELD (Seed Number)
No. 1 Jacob Modleski (Notre Dame), No. 2 Hunter Thomson (Michigan), Bryan Kim (Duke), Claes Borregaard (Kennesaw State), Braxton Watts (Utah) and Sakke Siltala (Texas State).
FORMAT
Play consists of four days of stroke play (18 each day) starting Friday, which first features a 54-hole cut on Sunday with the top-15 teams and nine individuals on a non-advancing team earning a spot in the final round of stroke play on Monday.
After the final 18 holes, the top-8 teams will advance to match play and a 72-hole NCAA National Individual Champion is crowned. The team national champion will be determined by a match-play format features the quarterfinals and semifinals conducted on Tuesday, followed by the finals on Wednesday.
HOW TO WATCH
Golf Channel will start its broadcast of the tournament on Monday, May 26 for the final round of stroke play starting a 6 p.m. On Tuesday, May 28 quarterfinal coverage will go from 1-3:30 p.m. followed by the semifinals broadcasted starting at 6 p.m. The finals match broadcast begins at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 28.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Florida will make its 58th NCAA Championships experience, which is second in the SEC and ranks tied fourth-most in the country. The Gators have only missed qualifying twice under head coach J.C. Deacon in 10 total regional appearances. UF has claimed five national titles – 1968, 1973, 1993, 2001, 2023 – which ranks tied for most among SEC schools and seventh all-time in the NCAA. The program has also finished runner-up four times (1967, 1974, 1990, 2006) for a total 18 top-5 finishes.
UF has made the national championships 20 of the last 23 times as its 58 all-time outings at nationals are tied for fourth most in the nation behind Oklahoma State (76), Texas (69), Arizona State (59) and USC (58). Individually, Florida has touted the top finisher three times- Bob Murphy in 1966, Nick Gilliam in 2001 and Fred Biondi in 2023.
POSTSEASON GATORS
Florida has won both postseason tournaments this season, winning its 17th SEC Championship and seventh NCAA Regional Championship. The last time UF won both a team conference and regional title in the same season was 2011 as this is the fourth time both have been done in a season in program history – 1989 & 1992.
DEACON’S LAST FOUR YEARS
In the last four years with Deacon, Florida has won the NCAA National Team Championship, four NCAA Championships appearances, two SEC Team Championships, three SEC Final Appearances, NCAA Individual Championship, SEC Individual Championship, NCAA Regional Team Championship, 19 tournament titles and 13 individual titles.
LAST TIME OUT
The Gators won the NCAA Bremerton Regional at 28-under while Matthew Kress (-11) finished runner-up as the Gators advanced to its fifth straight NCAA National Championship at Gold Mountain Golf Club.
Entering the final day with nine-shot lead and clear of the championship cut by 31-shots, Florida had a final round of 3-under 285 for a 54-hole score of 28-under 836 after a 16-under round two, which was the sixth lowest round by par and lowest at a regional since a 17-under final round in 2018. The final tournament score by par of 28-under is tied for eight lowest all-time and third-lowest at an NCAA Regional in program history.
The Gators finished 28 strokes ahead of the top-5 cut and won by three shots over No. 1-seed Arizona State. The next three teams to make the cut were Colorado (-4), USF (-2) and South Carolina (E) as Utah placed sixth, one shot away from forcing a playoff with the Gamecocks. Florida’s 28-under par was the third-lowest in regional play this year – Auburn 32-under and Florida State 29-under, who both played on their home course this week.
SEC CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP
Head Coach J.C. Deacon led the Gators to their second Southeastern Conference Championship in the last three seasons and 17th in program history, No. 2 among all league men’s golf programs. The victory is fourth this season and the 31st tournament title under Deacon in 11 seasons. This is the third straight season of four-plus wins under him and the seventh season of multiple wins, including the last five consecutive.
Florida reached SEC Match Play Finals for the third time overall and in the last four years (2022 & 2023) by defeating the No. 6 ranked Oklahoma Sooners 3-2 in the quarterfinals and the No. 1 seed, No. 2 ranked and the reigning SEC and National Champion Auburn Tigers, 3.5-1.5 in the semifinals yesterday. The win against the Aggies moves the all-time series record to 3-0 in the conference tournament.
In stroke play at the conference tournament, senior Ian Gilligan led the lineup 8-under finish behind a final round of 5-under 65. Sophomore Jack Turner placed T16 at 4-under and freshman Zack Swanwick T22 at 3-under. Gilligan went undefeated in match play (2-0-1) to finish 3-0-1 all-time in match play at the conference tournament en route to earning a spot on the Haskins Award Postseason Watch List.
Swanwick burst onto the scene at the SEC Championship, going 3-0 in match play with match-clinching victories in the quarterfinals vs. Oklahoma and finals vs. Texas A&M. He was clutch in his first conference tournament, being down one with three to play in the finals and making back-to-back birdies en route to a 1Up victory.
Turner was recently the coach’s pick for the 2025 Arnold Palmer Cup and Team USA. At the SEC Championship, he won the match-clinching point in the semifinals against the No. 1 player in college golf and back-to-back SEC Individual Champion, Jackson Koivun of Auburn, the reigning SEC and NCAA Champions. In stroke play, Turner shot all three rounds in the 60s for a T16 4-under outing, marking T22 finishes in his fourth career postseason tournament – runner-up at SECs last year.
POSTSEASON EXPERIENCE
After winning the NCAA Team, NCAA Individual and SEC Team Championships behind three seniors and First-Team All-Americans of Fred Biondi, Ricky Castillo and Yuxin Lin the Gators have accumulated postseason experience with a new group of players the last two seasons.
Entering the NCAA National Championships, Florida has a combined 97 postseason rounds in the lineup led by junior Matthew Kress with 36, senior Ian Gilligan 29 and sophomore Jack Turner 20. Both Luke Poulter and Zack Swanwick each gained nine from the SEC Championship and NCAA Regional this year as Poulter was the alternate a season ago at the conference tournament. Comparing to last year’s regional lineup which totaled 83 postseason rounds, which included 5th-year and 2022 SEC Individual Champion, John DuBois.
At the National Championships last year, the lineup had only two players (DuBois & Kress) play in the final postseason tournament. Compared to this year, Gilligan (3 rounds), Kress (11 rounds) and Turner (3 rounds) this season as all three played at La Costa last year.
In the 2024 West Lafayette Regional, Florida entered the final round the in fifth at 2-under with a four-shot lead for the final advancing spot. UF shot a final round of 2-under 286 to produce a 54-hole score of 4-under 860 and make the top-5 championship cut by 12 shots behind a final round of 3-under 69 from Turner, a freshman at the time. Advancing out of the regional last year was some revenge for the Gators as In 2017, Florida was the No. 1-seed and missed the top-5 championship cut after a final round of 24-over 312.
NUMBERS IN THE POSTSEASON
Among the starting five this week, the group has put together impressive numbers in the postseason. Jack Turner owns a stroke average of 70.6 and is 10-under overall in 16 stroke play rounds with 10 rounds at par or better en route to finish T23 or better in each postseason tournament. Ian Gilligan is right behind the sophomore at 70.8 and is 14-under overall in 25 stroke play rounds with 17 par or better rounds.
Postseason newcomers, Luke Poulter and Zack Swanwick have also shined. Poulter carries a stroke average of 70, 3-0 in match play and five of his six stroke play rounds at par or better behind a T4 outing last week at regionals. Swanwick is tied with Gilligan at 70.8 and recently finished 3-under T22 and regionals while also owning a 3-0 record in match play at the SEC Championship.
The veteran among the lineup, Matthew Kress will tee off his ninth postseason tournament and 37th round on Friday. He has been apart of a National Team and two SEC Championships. He finished runner-up at 11-under, his best in career at the postseason behind a career stroke average of 72.3 and four match play victories.
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