The round (285, +5) marked the lowest under head coach J.C. Deacon at the National Championships as Florida tees off tomorrow at 2:20 p.m. ET.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – The Florida men’s golf team cut 15 strokes off its first round (300) to shoot a 285 (+5) to jump 10 spots and finish tied for 14th in round two on Saturday at the National Championships.
Today’s round of 285 marked the lowest round under head coach J.C. Deacon at the championships as the previous low was 286 in both 2016 and 2018 under the eighth-year head coach. The outing was two strokes away from a low of 283 the Gators shot twice in 2013 on a team that featured A.J. Crouch (Korn Ferry Tour), Tyler McCumber (PGA Tour) and T.J. Vogel (Korn Ferry Tour).
When Florida ended its round as part of the first wave, it was tied for 25th. Once the second wave wrapped up its play at Grayhawk, the Gators leaped into T14 and climbed 10 spots, the most out of any team in the field as the 285 was tied for the fifth lowest round among the 29th other teams on day two.
UF is tied for 14th with Oregon and Stanford, if today was the cut for the final round of stroke play, all three would play in a sudden-death tiebreaker counting all five scores on one hole to take the top-2 two teams.
The Gators tee off the third-round tomorrow at 2:20 p.m. ET paired with Georgia Tech (T17) and Texas A&M (T17) and look to make the top-15 cut into the final round of stroke play on Monday. Following the fourth and final round of stroke play, the top-8 teams will advance to match play. Currently, Florida is three strokes away from one of the match play spots.
Four Gators improved their first-round score as John DuBois (T53) highlighted the day with a hole-out eagle on 18 from 200 yards out with a 7-iron. It marked his fifth eagle of the season, tied for the team-leading with Ricky Castillo. The clutch shot helped DuBois post a 72 (+2), three strokes better yesterday.
Posting the biggest improvement was Castillo (T85). The junior was the only Gator to finish under-par behind a 69 (-1) as he knocked off 12 strokes from a round one of 81 (+11). He went 2-under on the front and held a clean scorecard until a bogey on 16. His birdie on 14 helped Florida move into three strokes from the top-15. The score was one away from tying his NCAA Championships career-low he set last year in round one. The round was his team-high 17th under-par and 11th in the 60s.
After a double bogey to start, Yuxin Lin (T32) found his rhythm and rattled off four straight birdies on holes 3-6, which helped put the Gators 1-under on the round. He had a team-high five birdies as the lineup recorded three of them on hole six. Lin posted a tick over par at 71 (+1).
Fred Biondi ended a stroke back from DuBois at 73 (+3) and started the turn with a birdie. He resides in T65. Rounding out the lineup was Quentin Debove with an 82 (+12) in T143.
Scores
Florida Individual
Place
Player
Round 1
Round 2
Score
T32
74
71
145 (+5)
T53
75
72
147 (+7)
T65
75
73
148 (+8)
T85
81
69
150 (+10)
T142
76
82
158 (+18)
Team Leaderboard
Place
School
Round 1
Round 2
Score
1
Oklahoma
287
275
562 (+2)
2
Vanderbilt
282
282
564 (+4)
3
Oklahoma State
289
277
566 (+6)
4
North Carolina
288
281
569 (+9)
5
Pepperdine
294
282
576 (+16)
6
Arkansas
294
286
580 (+20)
7
Auburn
285
296
581 (+21)
T8
Arizona State
290
292
582 (+22)
T8
Texas
291
291
582 (+22)
T10
Georgia
291
292
583 (+23)
T10
Kansas
286
297
583 (+23)
T12
Ole Miss
297
287
584 (+24)
T12
Texas Tech
297
287
584 (+24)
T14
Stanford
295
290
585 (+25)
T14
Oregon
285
300
585 (+25)
T14
Florida
300
285
585 (+25)
T17
Texas A&M
300
287
587 (+27)
T17
Georgia Tech
298
289
587 (+27)
19
Wake Forest
303
285
588 (+28)
20
Florida State
291
300
591 (+31)
21
Arizona
286
306
592 (+32)
22
Liberty
290
303
593 (+33)
23
Brigham Young
295
302
597 (+37)
T24
Ohio State University
300
300
600 (+40)
T24
Georgia Southern
295
305
600 (+40)
26
North Florida
306
298
604 (+44)
27
East Tennessee St.
297
308
605 (+45)
28
South Florida
303
304
607 (+47)
29
Utah
297
311
608 (+48)
30
College of Charleston
305
313
618 (+58)
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