AUSTIN, Texas – The No. 8 Florida Gators men’s golf team finds itself in third place after Thursday’s opening round of the NCAA Southwest Regional at the University of Texas Golf Club.
Paced by seniors Billy Horschel and Will Strickler, who had rounds of 1-over-par 72 on the difficult 7,412-yard course, the Gators had a 9-over-par 293 first round, which placed them 11 shots behind first-round leader Texas Tech but only two back of second-place Texas.
“This was another typical day for us,” Florida coach Buddy Alexander said. “We got off to a bad start and then we battled back. I’m proud of the way our guys have fought all year and this was just another example of them sticking in there.”
The Red Raiders, with two players shooting under par and another two placing in the Top 10, managed a 2-under-par 282 round. Brian Scherer and Nils Floren each carded 1-under-par 70s and teammates Chris Ward and Garrett Merrell each had rounds of 71. The host Longhorns were led by Lance Lopez, who shot a 3-under-68 and was tied with Lamar’s Hugues Joannes for first place on the individual leaderboard.
Strickler birdied his opening hole but made three bogeys and was 2-over-par after eight holes. He then made three birdies over the next five holes to slip under par, but back-to-back bogeys at 15 and 16 left him at 72.
Horschel, the medalist at the SEC Championships, had three birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey in his round. The rounds of 72 left Strickler and Horschel tied for ninth in the individual race.
Senior Toby Ragland struggled through his first nine holes, making the turn at 4-over par, but made birdies on No. 11 and 14. A bogey on the 18th put him at 3-over 74 for the day, tied for 18th. Junior Tyson Alexander shot a 4-over 75 that left him tied for 24th. Junior Tim McKenney shot 5-over-76 and was tied for 31st.
“We came into the tournament wanting to put ourselves in a position to win,” said coach Alexander. “If we actually get off to a good start, we could have some really good things happen.”
The tournament continues Friday (the Gators tee off around 10:40 a.m. ET) and concludes Saturday, with the top five teams and one individual not on those teams advancing to the NCAA Championships at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, later this month.
Stanford, which was the top-seeded team in the regional (Florida was No. 2), was a stroke behind the Gators after shooting 10-over 294. UNLV and Lamar were tied for fifth at 12-over 296. Michigan stood seventh at 301, a shot ahead of Virginia Tech. Mississippi State was ninth at 305, a shot ahead of California. Texas-Arlington shot 308 for 11th, New Mexico State shot 309 for 12th and Jackson State totaled 335 for 13th.
NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
SOUTHWEST REGIONAL
AUSTIN, Texas – Results from Thursday’s first round of the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship Southwest Regional at the par-71, 7,412-yard University of Texas Golf Club:
1. TEXAS TECH 282 (-2) (Brian Scherer 70, Nils Floren 70, Chris Ward 71, Garrett Merrell 71, Santiago Rivas 79)
2. TEXAS 291 (+7) (Lance Lopez 68, Bobby Hudson 72, Dylan Frittelli 75, Donald Constable 76, Charlie Holland 81)
3. FLORIDA 293 (+9) (Will Strickler 36-36—72 T9, Billy Horschel 37-35—72 T9, Toby Ragland 39-35—74 T18, Tyson Alexander 38-37—75 T24, Tim McKenney 38-38—76 T31)
4. STANFORD 294 (+10) (Steve Ziegler 70, Daniel Lim 73, Sihwan Kim 75, Dodge Kemmer 76, David Chung 82)
T5. UNLV 296 (+12) (Eddie Olson 72, Colby Smith 73, Ji Moon 74, Derek Ernst 77, Brett Kanda 79)
T5. LAMAR 296 (+12) (Hugues Joannes 68, Leoux Ferriera 75, Kevin Hesbois 76, Justin Harding 77, Xavier Feyaerts 80)
7. MICHIGAN 301 (+17) (Lion Kim 73, Matt Thompson 74, Alexander Sitompul 77, Nick Pumford 77, Bill Rankin 80)
8. VIRGINIA TECH 302 (+18) (Drew Weaver 72, Will Oldham 75, Garland Green 77, Marshall Bailey 78, Matt Boyd 81)
9. MISSISSIPPI STATE 305 (+21) (Josh Bevell 74, Noah Goldman 75, Carlos Sainz 77, Matt Fast 79, Brian Mason 80)
10. CALIFORNIA 306 (+22) (Eric Mina 74, John Murphy 76, George Gandranata 77, Stephen Hale 79, Michael Jensen 82)
11. TEXAS-ARLINGTON 308 (+24) (Zack Fischer 71, Kevin Carrigan 77, Bryce Easton 79, Bobby Massa 81, Michael Van de Venter WD)
12. NEW MEXICO STATE 309 (+25) (Travis Reid 72, Ryan Word 76, Gaston De La Torre 79, Tim Madigan 82, Kevin Lozares 88)
13. JACKSON STATE 335 (+51) (Clay Myers 83, Michael Chappell 83, Brett Benson 83, Maurice 86, Curtis Stanton 87)
Others: Jeff Gerlich (Texas State) 74, Glenn Northcutt (Auburn) 75, Ken Looper (New Orleans) 76, Gonzalo Berlin (Jacksonville State) 77, Fergal Rafferty (Sam Houston State) 77, Cedric Scotto (Southeastern Louisiana) 77, Cole Moreland (Auburn) 78, Adam Cornelson (New Orleans) 80, Matt Carvell (Southeastern Louisiana) 81, Corey Roberson (Texas State) 83.
INDIVIDUAL TOP 15
T1. Hugues Joannes (Lamar) 33-35—68 (-3)
T1. Lance Lopez (Texas) 35-33—68 (-3)
T3. Nils Floren (Texas Tech) 36-34—70 (-1)
T3. Brian Scherer (Texas Tech) 36-34—70 (-1)
T3. Steve Ziegler (Stanford) 34-36—70 (-1)
T6. Zack Fischer (Texas-Arlington) 36-35—71 (E)
T6. Garrett Merrell (Texas Tech) 35-36—71 (E)
T6. Chris Ward (Texas Tech) 33-38—71 (E)
T9. Billy Horschel (Florida) 37-35—72 (+1)
T9. Bobby Hudson (Texas) 36-36—72 (+1)
T9. Eddie Olson (UNLV) 38-34—72 (+1)
T9. Travis Reid (New Mexico State) 36-36—72 (+1)
T9. Will Strickler (Florida) 36-36—72 (+1)
T9. Drew Weaver (Virginia Tech) 35-37—72 (+1)
T15. Lion Kim (Michigan) 39-34—73 (+2)
T15. Daniel Lim (Stanford) 36-37—73 (+2)
T15. Colby Smith (UNLV) 37-36—73 (+2)