Deacon Tabbed Southeast Region Coach of the Year
J.C. Deacon earns the honor for the second time in three seasons as Florida was a National Championship Semifinalist, SEC Champions and won the NCAA Bremerton Regional this year.
NORMAN, Okla. – For the second time in three seasons, Florida head men’s golf coach J.C. Deacon was named the Division I Southeast Region Coach of the Year, the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) announced.
In his 11th season with the program, Deacon guided the Gators to another successful year. Florida was both a National Championship Semifinalist and SEC Champions for the second time in three seasons. They also won the NCAA Bremerton Regional to conclude a five win campaign along with a pair of medalist honors from Ian Gilligan (6th collegiate win) and Luke Poulter (first collegiate win).
Florida won two of the three postseason tournaments (SEC Championship & NCAA Regional) as the last time UF won both a team conference and regional title in the same season was 2011. It was also the fourth time both have been done in a season in program history – 1989 & 1992.
The victory at the regional was second under Deacon with the first being in 2018 for a total five team titles this season. It also marked the 32nd tournament title under him in 11 seasons. This was the third straight season of four-plus wins under Deacon and the seventh season of multiple wins, including the last five consecutive.
In the last four years, Florida has won the NCAA National Team Championship, NCAA Individual Championship, four NCAA Championships appearances, two NCAA Championship Semifinal Appearances, NCAA Regional Team Championship, two SEC Team Championships, three SEC Final Appearances, SEC Individual Championship, 19 tournament titles and 13 individual titles.
In the final round of stroke play at the national championship, Florida tied for the lowest-round (-8) of the day and second-lowest of the tournament with top-seeded Arizona State (-14). The final round produced a 72-hole score of 9-under 1143, its lowest score by par at the National Championships since 26-under in 2001, when Florida won the team title. The last time UF shot 9-under in a round at nationals was round four in 2006. Both Matthew Kress (T9, -3) and Gilligan (T13, -2) each earned NCAA All-Tournament Team and All-American status with their performances.
The Gators earned a spot in match play at nationals for the second time in three seasons and defeated No. 6 Texas 3-2 in the quarterfinals after rallying down 2-0 and winning the final three matches. It was Florida’s fourth win in championship match play.
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. The Gators defeated Texas A&M 4-1 in the finals for the program’s 17th conference title, ranking No. 2 among men’s golf programs. It was also the 10th match play win in the SEC Championship, ranking second-most in the conference behind Vanderbilt’s 13.
At the NCAA Bremerton Regional, 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 eighth lowest all-time and third-lowest at an NCAA Regional in program history. 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.
Defending home turf for the sixth consecutive year, UF swept the 48th Gators Invitational behind Gilligan’s sixth collegiate win, including defeating National Champion Oklahoma State. The victory was the 31st overall and 16th sweep (team and individual title) at the home tournament as Florida had an all-underclassmen lineup competing.
The second individual title was captured by redshirt-sophomore Luke Poulter at the Schenkel Invitational. He led all three rounds and became the sixth Gator to win the tournament, joining Andy Bean, Matt Every, Phil Hancock, Steve Scott and Bank Vongvanij.
Heading into postseason play, the Orange and Blue defended its team title at the Calusa Cup behind a final round of 17-under, tied for third all-time in program history by par. The win marked the third consecutive year UF has won the final regular season event (2024 Calusa Cup & 2023 Augusta Hakskins Award Invite). The final round of 271 tied the lowest round by score this season as the -17 was the season-low score by par in a round. Also the final team score of 17-under also set a new tournament record for the Calusa Cup.
2025 Region Coaches of the Year – Division I
Northeast – Will Green, Princeton
East – Bowen Sargent, Virginia
Southeast – J.C. Deacon, Florida
Midwest – Steve Bailey, Marquette
Central – Alan Bratton, Oklahoma State
West – Armen Kirakossian, UCLA
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