Led by seniors Tyler McCumber (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) and T.J. Vogel (Cooper City, Fla.), the University of Florida men’s golf team finished in second place at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate on October 16 at Vestavia Hills, Ala. The team finished the three-round tournament in 861 strokes (+21), four strokes behind tournament-host Alabama.
In all three tournaments of the 2012-13 season, the team has won or finished as runners-up.
Florida was on top of the leaderboards after the first and second round, but could not hold off SEC-foe Alabama.
“We have to work on closing,” said head coach Buddy Alexander. “We have to make our guys tougher when it matters the most.”
The senior tandem of McCumber and Vogel kept the Gators afloat early in the final round. Starting on the 10th hole, Vogel scored a two-under for the first nine holes. McCumber recorded the team’s second eagle of the year on the par-four 15th hole.
Alexander praised Vogel’s early efforts, saying, “T.J. Vogel played well early.”
Both McCumber and Vogel carded a 214 (+4) for the tournament. The two both recorded a three-over par for the last two rounds of play to finish in a tie for sixth place with Kevin Penner of UNLV. Vogel recorded his third top-10 finish of the year, while McCumber tallied his second.
Sophomore J.D. Tomlinson (Gainesville, Fla.) finished the final two rounds in 146 strokes (+6). Tomlinson just missed out on his fifth top-10 finish of his career, finishing in a tie for 11th place.
Senior Tommy Mou (Bradenton, Fla.) carded an 11-over par for his final two rounds. Mou, in his first tournament of the season, finished in a tie for 15th place. That marked his best finish since he finished in a tie for seventh place last season at The Bake at The Ocean Course.
Freshman A.J. Crouch (Jacksonville, Fla.) completed the second and third round in 147 strokes (+7) to complete the Gator lineup.
Florida will conclude its fall season next week at the Isleworth Invitational in nearby Windermere, Fla. The tournament will be from October 21-23 and will be hosted by Texas Tech University and University of Central Florida.
Courtesy of UF Communications