The Florida Gators are 8-over par and tied for 15th while Castillo’s individual 2-under par 68 lands him in the top five.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – The first round of play the NCAA Championship has concluded with Florida recording an 8-over par 288 to sit in a tie for 15th place.
Individually, Ricky Castillo’s hot streak continues.
Castillo recorded a 2-under par 68 in today’s beginning round, an impressive feat on a Grayhawk course that features rock-hard greens and gnarly pins. However, his card becomes even more staggering when two unplayable balls were factored in – each adding a penalty stroke to his score.
Instead of allowing the penalties to grow his score, Castillo flashed the poise, skill and talent that has earned him such a respected reputation, finishing each hole with only a bogey. The sophomore added an additional five birdies to his scorecard to finish the round tied for fifth individually.
Yuxin Lin finished next in the Florida lineup, posting a 2-over par score of 72 through the first 18 holes of play. After beginning the round with back-to-back birdies two holes, Lin recorded three bogeys within four holes leading up to the turn. The sophomore transfer didn’t allow that to ruin his game. A birdie on the second hole reaffirmed his approach. Lin managed to finish the round only 2-over and tied for 55th place heading into tomorrow’s round.
Joe Pagdin, Gio Manzoni and Tyler Wilkes rounded out the Gators lineup, finishing with 3, 5 and 9-over par scorecards, respectively.
Florida will take the course tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. ET looking for more continuity throughout its lineup. On Sunday, the first cut line will be drawn in the championship as the top 15 teams and nine individuals on non-advancing teams will advance to the final stroke play competition on Monday, May 31.
Head Coach JC Deacon’s Take
On the round…
“I don’t think our score of 8-over is very good. It could’ve been a lot better and I guess it could’ve been a little worse. We got a great round out of Ricky (Castillo), he was fantastic and has been building up to this all year. He’s really been working on his mental toughness and saw a ton of that today. I know Yuxin (Lin) will be disappointed shooting 2-over. I think he played a lot better than that. Joe (Pagdin), Tyler (Wilkes) and Gio (Manzoni) just have to be better. We have the guys to do it and we have an 11:30 a.m. (PST) tee time tomorrow. The guys are obviously going to get to know the course better and better as the week goes on. Just have to put up a good number tomorrow and get back in it.”
On the course…
“Hats off to the NCAA and Grayhawk Golf Club. The greens are perfect, the conditions are just mint. Perfect fairways, perfect everything. Obviously, we have this great Scottsdale weather, so it’s a dream come true for the guys with the golf course. There’re no excuses there. There’s no wind, just have to hit a lot of straight shots and make a lot of putts. That’s exactly what we have to do tomorrow.”
Team Leaderboard
Position
Team
Total
1
Texas Tech
276 (-4)
2
Sam Houston
278 (-2)
3
Pepperdine
279 (-1)
T4
Oklahoma State
280 (E)
T4
Oklahoma
280 (E)
6
Florida State
281 (+1)
7
Arizona State
284 (+4)
T8
Oregon State
286 (+6)
T8
San Diego State
286 (+6)
T10
Wake Forest
287 (+7)
T10
Arkansas
287 (+7)
T10
Clemson
287 (+7)
T10
SMU
287 (+7)
T10
Illinois
287 (+7)
T15
North Carolina
288 (+8)
T15
Florida
288 (+8)
T17
Georgia Tech
289 (+9)
T17
Louisville
289 (+9)
T19
San Diego
292 (+12)
T19
Georgia
292 (+12)
T19
TCU
292 (+12)
T22
Tennessee
293 (+13)
T22
Vanderbilt
293 (+13)
T24
Little Rock
294 (+14)
T24
Texas
294 (+24)
T26
UAB
295 (+15)
T26
Liberty
295 (+15)
T28
NC State
300 (+20)
T28
East Tennessee St.
200 (+20)
30
San Francisco
301 (+21)
Player Leaderboard
Position
Name
Total
T5
Ricky Castillo
68 (-2)
T55
Yuxin Lin
72 (+2)
T73
Joe Pagdin
73 (+3)
T105
Gio Manzoni
75 (+5)
T149
Tyler Wilkes
79 (+9)
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