Florida opened the SEC Championship with a 5-under round behind Ian Gilligan’s bogey-free 4-under 66, his second career mark at the conference tournament.
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – The No. 8 Florida men’s golf completed the opening round of the SEC Championship as Ian Gilligan shot a bogey-free 4-under 66 as the Gators are in 5th at 5-under at Sea Island Golf Club.
Florida turned in a team round of 275 (-5) with Oklahoma (-6) a stroke ahead in 4th, LSU and Texas (-9) tied for 2nd and leader Auburn (-16), who had the second-lowest score in tournament history, one back LSU’s 263 in 2014. All four of Florida’s counting scores were par or better today.
Following 54-holes of stroke play, the top-8 teams advance to match play beginning on Saturday with the quarterfinals and semifinals followed by the finals on Sunday at 8 a.m. live on SEC Network.
Florida started atop the leaderboard at 2-under behind early birdies from Matthew Kress and Luke Poulter. On his first career postseason hole, Poulter made birdie on the par4, 10th.
Approaching the turn and as all 16 teams were underway at Sea Island, the Gators were tied for 3rd at 3-under as Gilligan made a 20-foot birdie on the 14th and Kress, playing his 28th career postseason round, made back-to-back birdies on 15 & 16. He made the turn 2-under and finished with an opening round of 70 (E).
About to complete the turn, Florida was tied for 8th at 1-under before leaping to 5th behind back-to-back birdies on 16 & 17 from Gilligan, who was bogey-free 3-under through his first nine. The Ben Hogan Award Semifinals tied his postseason-low with a 4-under and bogey-free 66 as he walked-in his fourth and final birdie, a 15-footer on six.
In Gilligan’s four rounds at the SECs, three have been under par and 14 all-time in the postseason: NCAAs, Regionals, Conference Tournaments. The 66 is also his third all-time in the postseason swing: 2024 SEC Championships & 2023 NCAA Regionals.
UF snagged solo 3rd and was 4-under through holes 10-13 completed after Poulter made birdies on one and three to get even in his round. He added his fifth of the day and third on the front nine on hole five to move Florida in a tie for second with LSU. He battled back from +2 at turn and shot an even-par 70.
Last year’s SEC runner-up, Jack Turner, found his rhythm and closed strong. He was +2 after starting his final nine with a bogey and then made three birdies in his next five holes as Florida and LSU remained tied at 6-under. The sophomore made his sixth birdie on eight and finished with a 1-under 69, marking his third under par round in four total at the conference tournament.
The non-counting score in the lineup was from freshman Zack Swanwick with a 71 (+1).
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