Late birdies on the back nine helped push Florida above the first cut into 11th to play for the match play cut tomorrow.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Having an afternoon team time seemed to be a curse at Grayhawk Golf Club, but the Florida men’s golf team ignored the phrase and was clutch on the back nine to make the top-15 cut at the NCAA Championships on Sunday.
Entering the day in a three-way tie for the final 15th spot, the Gators entered the final seven holes four strokes ahead of the cut as the group of Texas A&M, Wake Forest and Georgia Tech were all battling for the final qualifying spots.
Followed by two chip-in birdies on 18 and a birdie on 17, Florida advanced by six strokes for the fourth and final round of stroke play. It marks the fourth time in program history and second under head coach J.C. Deacon the Gators advance to round four of stroke play since the match play format was added in 2009. The last occurrence came in 2016.
Paired with Georgia Tech today, only Florida and the Yellow Jackets were afternoon wave teams to make the cut today. The Gators shot a 286 (+6), one stroke away the career-low under Deacon at the championships that was set yesterday.
Tomorrow there will be another cut as the top-8 teams advance to match play. Currently, UF is five strokes back from eighth place Arkansas.
Leading the lineup was Fred Biondi, who was tabbed an All-Region selection earlier in the day. Biondi shot a 67 (-3) for his 12th round in the 60s and 15th under-par en route to total 101 birdies on the season. He chipped in his final birdie on 18 that erupted the crowd to finish tied for 25th. The shot was his second chip-in birdie of the day as he had one on six to end 2-under bogey-free on the front.
Another shot that brought spectators to their feet was from Ricky Castillo. Also, a PING All-Region selection for the third straight year today, he chipped in from the bunker that bounced twice and dribbled in. He went 1-under on the back nine after going +5 on the front.
The second Gator to finish under-par was Yuxin Lin (T17), who was the third selection to the Southeast PING All-Region team. He went bogey-free on the front at -2 behind with back-to-back birdies on four and five. The Junior erased a rough start to the back and sent a dart to set up for a short birdie putt on 14. He added his fourth of the day on 17 right after Biondi’s loud chip-in.
Finishing a stroke from one another, John DuBois turned in a 76 (+6) and Tyler Wilkes a 77 (+7), who subbed in No. 5 spot today.
The Orange and Blue tee off tomorrow at 1:11 p.m. ET with Georgia and Texas Tech, and look to make match play for the first-time in program history.
Scores
Florida Individual
Place
Player
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Score
T17
74
71
69
214 (+4)
T25
75
73
67
215 (+5)
T76
75
72
76
223 (+13)
T87
81
69
74
224 (+24)
—
—
—
77
77 (+7)
—
76
82
—
158 (+18)
*Subbed in for round three
Team Leaderboard
Place
School
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Score
1
Oklahoma
287
275
277
839 (-1)
2
Oklahoma State
289
277
277
843 (+3)
3
Vanderbilt
282
282
281
845 (+5)
4
North Carolina
288
281
280
849 (+9)
5
Pepperdine
294
282
277
853 (+13)
6
Arizona State
290
292
277
859 (+19)
7
Texas
291
291
278
860 (+20)
8
Arkansas
294
286
286
866 (+26)
T9
Auburn
285
296
288
869 (+29)
T9
Texas Tech
297
287
285
869 (+29)
11
Florida
300
285
286
871 (+31)
12
Georgia
291
292
289
872 (+32)
13
Oregon
285
300
291
876 (+36)
T14
Ole Miss
297
287
293
877 (+37)
T14
Georgia Tech
298
289
290
877 (+37)
—
Top-15 cut
—
—
—
—
16
Texas A&M
300
287
292
879 (+39)
17
Kansas
286
297
297
880 (+40)
18
Stanford
295
290
297
882 (+42)
T19
Arizona
286
306
291
883 (+43)
T19
Wake Forest
303
285
295
883 (+43)
T21
Florida State
291
300
296
887 (+47)
T21
Brigham Young
295
302
290
887 (+47)
23
Ohio State University
300
300
293
893 (+53)
24
North Florida
306
298
291
895 (+55)
25
Georgia Southern
295
305
297
897 (+57)
26
Liberty
290
303
305
898 (+58)
27
Utah
297
311
296
904 (+64)
28
South Florida
303
304
300
907 (+67)
29
East Tennessee St.
297
308
306
911 (+71)
30
College of Charleston
305
313
295
913 (+73)
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