Florida will travel to Eagle Eye Golf Club in Michigan from May 15-17.
INDIANAPOLIS – The Florida men’s golf team earned a No. 2 seed in the Bath Regional, the NCAA announced Wednesday in conjunction with Golf Channel.
This marks the second straight year the Gators have been a two-seed in regionals and the third time under head coach J.C. Deacon.
The three-day event will consist of 54 holes (18 each day) that starts on Monday, May 15 at Eagle Eye Golf Club hosted by Michigan State. At the conclusion of play, the top five teams as well as the top individual finisher not on an advancing team will advance to the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., from May 26-31.
A total of 81 teams and 45 individuals (not on a competing team) will play across six regional hosts – Auburn, Clemson, Michigan State, Oklahoma, San Jose State and UNLV. Thirteen teams and 10 individuals will compete at each of three regionals while the other three regionals will have 14 teams and five individuals.
The Gators have qualified for 33 of the 34 all-time men’s golf regionals and each year under Deacon as Florida won the inaugural East Regional (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) in 1989. UF has claimed a total of six team titles (1989, 1992, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2018) and six individual titles – Brain Gay (1993), Brad Lehmann (1994), Camilo Villegas (2001), Billy Horschel (2006 & 2007) and Andy Zhang (2018).
Florida earned an automatic qualification after winning the 2023 SEC Championship and the 16th in program history. The victory was the first conference title for Deacon with the last Gator’s SEC title in 2011. It was the fifth win this season, marking the 20th under Deacon and the ninth in the last three seasons. This is the sixth season with multiple wins with him at the helm as the most under him was six in 2016-17
What they are saying about Florida:
“Florida beat Vanderbilt in the SEC Championship. I think that builds momentum heading into the month of May. I have said all season long, they go as their big three go. Ricky Castillo, Yuxin Lin and Fred Biondi are good as anyone in the country. When they play well together like we saw in Augusta, they are very tough to beat, but it might be the wild card. Matthew Kress, a walk-on, who went a perfect 3-0 at the SEC Championship. He had to beg head coach J.C. Deacon just to give him a chance. J.C. gave him every opportunity to not come. Kress still went to Gainesville. J.C. said Kress is the most determined player he has ever coached. He (Kress) is emotionally reliable.”
-Steve Burkowski, Golf Channel
Bath Regional Teams
Seed
Team
No. 1
Illinois
No. 2
Florida
No. 3
Texas
No. 4
Oregon
No. 5
Kansas State
No. 6
Georgia
No. 7
Liberty
No. 8
San Diego
No. 9
Little Rock
No. 10
Michigan State
No. 11
Wisconsin
No. 12
Illinois State
No. 13
Purdue Fort Wayne
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