ATLANTA – Despite a 2-under-par 70 by senior Billy Horschel, the No. 5 Florida Gators men’s golf team had a rough first day in the U.S. Collegiate Championships, shooting an 8-over-par 296 in the first round at the Golf Club of Georgia.
The Gators are tied for 11th place heading into Monday’s second round. Fourth-ranked Clemson shot a 5-under 283 and leads the tournament.
“It was a pretty disappointing day,” Florida coach Buddy Alexander said. “I thought we were getting a little better and might have a little momentum going into this tournament. We’ve struggled all year to get four good rounds on any given day and today we really only had one good round.”
Horschel was solid all day, finishing with three birdies and just one bogey. He is tied for seventh, trailing UCLA’s Erik Flores, who opened with a 65, by five strokes.
Junior Tyson Alexander battled back from being 3-over after the first eight holes to play the final 10 holes in 1-under for an opening 2-over 74 that left him tied for 37th. Sophomore Andres Echavarria and junior Tim McKenney each shot 4-over-par 76s and were tied for 56th place.
Senior Toby Ragland never got anything going, shooting a 6-over-par 78 that left him tied for 68th.
“Hopefully we can bounce back tomorrow and show a little mental toughness,” coach Alexander added. “It’s a hard golf course and it looks like the weather’s going to be a little severe.”
In the team competition, Clemson holds a one-stroke lead over UCLA, which shot 4-under 284. Southern California is third at 285 and Washington fourth at 287. Oklahoma State and Stanford are tied for fifth at 289, South Carolina, Georgia Tech and Alabama are tied for seventh at 291 and host Georgia is at 7-over 295, a shot ahead of Florida and Texas A&M. Florida State is 13th at 302, a shot ahead of Indiana and four strokes ahead of East Tennessee State.
UCLA’s Flores had a two-stroke edge on Clemson’s David May and Southern California’s Matthew Giles, who shot 5-under 67s. Three golfers were tied for fourth at 69 – Clemson’s Kyle Stanley and Washington teammates Tze Huang Choo and Nick Taylor. Horschel’s opening 70 tied him for seventh with Florida State’s Brooks Koepka, Southern California’s Steve Lim and Alabama’s Bud Cauley.
Second-round action begins Monday at 11 a.m. and the final round is Tuesday.