UF MGOLF | Castillo, Gators Finish Tied for Runner-up at OFCC/Fighting Illini Invite

Ricky Castillo shot three rounds of 68 (-2) to end 6-under overall at Olympia Fields.

CHICAGO – The Florida men’s golf team finished tied for runner-up at the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invite on Sunday as senior Ricky Castillo also tied for second individually finishing 6-under overall and stroke back from the leader.

The Gators shot a team score of 843 (+3) backed behind a round three of 279 (-1) after starting the day in fourth. Florida opened up the season with a victory at the Fighting Irish Collegiate as the field this weekend with five of the eight teams that made match play at the 2022 NCAA Championships, including last year’s national champion, Texas, and runner-up, Arizona State.

Stanford won the tournament with the only team finishing under-par at 9-under.

Castillo posted three rounds of 68 (-2) to end 6-under overall at Olympia Fields. The round marked his fourth under-par this season as we went bogey-free on the back with birdies on 10 (par 4, 444 yards) and 18 (par 4, 496 yards). His 54-hole score of 204 was only three strokes away from tying ninth all-time last set by Chris Nido in the 2019 NCAA Regional. He also was tied for a tournament-leading 12 birdies.

Yuxin Lin (T15) and Fred Biondi (T20) both placed in the top-25 for the second consecutive tournament. Biondi used his lowest round (69, -1) of the weekend to jump 17 spots. Starting and ending the day with a birdie, Lin shot an even 70 today.

A stroke out of the top-25 was Quentin Debove in T26 followed by John DuBois in T43.

The fall slate continues at SEC Match Play (Sept. 25-27) and concludes with the Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational (Oct. 3-4).
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