AUSTIN, Texas – For weeks now, Florida men’s golf coach Buddy Alexander has been concerned about his team’s slow starts in tournaments.
Well, the Gators may be turtles at the start but they sure know how to act like rabbits at the finish. With senior Billy Horschel making five birdies in a 3-under-par 68, the Gators rallied from third place to win the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships Southwest Regional by two strokes over first-round leader Texas Tech and by three over second-round leader and tourney host Texas.
On a day when rains and winds whipped around the par-71, 7,412-yard University of Texas Golf Club, the Gators managed a final-round total of 10-over-par 294, their worst total in three rounds, but good enough to move past both Texas Tech and Texas for a three-day total of 22-over-par 874. The Red Raiders, who scorched the course in Thursday’s first round for a 2-under-par 282 total, totaled 298 on their final 18 for a 24-over-par 876.
The Longhorns, led by individual medalist Lance Lopez, soared to a 301 on the final day that left them at 25-over-par 877. Stanford finished fourth at 35-over 887 and Michigan shot 888 to grab the fifth team spot in this year’s NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships May 27-30 at the renowned Donald Ross-layout, The Inverness Club, in Toledo, Ohio. Lamar University’s Hugues Joannes, who tied for fourth at 3-over-par 216, qualified individually for the finals at Inverness.
“It was a long day today and this win was a long time coming,” Florida head coach Buddy Alexander said. “This was our first win outside of our home tournaments since the 2006 Fall Preview. This is a pretty big win for these kids.”
It is the fourth time that Florida has won a regional title and the first since the Gators captured the NCAA West Regional in 2006. Florida has now qualified for the NCAA Championships for the ninth straight season and in 21 of Alexander’s 22 years as head coach. Since Alexander became Florida’s head coach in January 1988, the Gators have finished in the top 5 eight times and won two of the school’s four NCAA titles in 1993 and 2001 while finishing runner-up in 1990 and 2006.
Horschel, the 2009 SEC Golfer of the Year, made a birdie on his first hole and never looked back. He got to 4-under for the day with back-to-back birdies on the 13th and 14th holes, but a bogey on 18 left him at 1-over-par 214, five shots behind Lopez. It was Horschel’s eighth Top 10 finish in 10 tournaments this season.
“Billy carried us today, which is what you expect from an All-American,” said Alexander. “Tyson (Alexander, the coach’s son and No. 3 player) told me yesterday that he liked our chances because we had a mad Billy Horschel on our side after he shot 74 on Friday. That pretty much won us the tournament today.”
The younger Alexander, who carried Florida’s banner Friday with a 3-under-par 68 of his own, had a solid final round, considering the conditions, shooting 3-over-par 74 for a 4-over 217 total which tied him for seventh. It was Alexander’s third Top 10 finish this season.
Senior Toby Ragland put a 75 onto a pair of opening 74s to finish at 10-over-par 223, tied with fellow senior Will Strickler, who soared to a 77 in the final round. Junior Tim McKenney struggled to 78 and finished in a tie for 31st place at 12-over-par 225.
“It was an absolute mud bath out there,” Alexander said. Play was suspended for 2½ hours because of storms. “There was a lot of wind for a while, but then it died down. I never felt too uncomfortable though, and we kind of took control on the back nine. We made some mistakes down the stretch, but we held on for the win.”
Florida returns to Gainesville for a week of preparations before leaving for Toledo.
NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
SOUTHWEST REGIONAL
AUSTIN, Texas – Results after Saturday’s final round at the par-71, 7,412 University of Texas Golf Club in the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships Southwest Regional. The top 5 teams and 1 individual not on those teams advance to the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships May 27-30 at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio:
TEAM
QUALIFIERS
1. FLORIDA (874) (+22) (293-287-294) (2 Billy Horschel 72-74-68—214, T7 Tyson Alexander 75-68-74—217, T23 Will Strickler 72-74-77—223, T23 Toby Ragland 74-74-75—223, T31 Tim McKenney 76-71-78—225)
2. TEXAS TECH (876) (+24) (282-296-298) (3 Chris Ward 71-73-71—215, T4 Nils Floren 70-73-73—216, T18 Garrett Merrell 71-75-76—222, T28 Brian Scherer 70-75-79—224, T54 Santiago Rivas 79-75-78—232)
3. TEXAS (877) (+25) (291-285-301) (1 Lance Lopez 68-69-72—209, 11 Bobby Hudson 72-71-77—220, T23 Dylan Frittelli 75-74-74—223, T31 Donald Constable 76-71-78—225, T56 Charlie Holland 81-74-78—233)
4. STANFORD (887) (+35) (294-299-294) (T4 Dodge Kemmer 76-70-70—216, T12 Sihwan Kim 75-74-72—221, T37 Steve Ziegler 70-77-79—226, T56 Daniel Lim 73-79-81—233, T56 David Chung 82-78-73—233)
5. MICHIGAN (888) (+36) (301-295-292) (T18 Lion Kim 73-76-73—222, T23 Matt Thompson 74-72-77—223, T31 Bill Rankin 80-71-74—225, T31 Alexander Sitompul 77-76-72—225, T50 Nick Pumford 77-81-73—231)
NON-QUALIFIERS
6. LAMAR (891) (+39) (296-298-297) (T4 Hugues Joannes 68-74-74—216, T18 Leroux Ferriera 75-74-73—222, T37 Justin Harding 77-74-75—226, T41 Kevin Hesbois 76-76-75—227, 64 Xavier Feyaerts 80-79-77—236)
7. UNLV (892) (+40) (296-289-307) (9 Eddie Olson 72-69-77—218, T12 Ji Moon 74-72-75—221, T37 Colby Smith 73-75-78—226, T41 Derek Ernst 77-73-77—227, T56 Brett Kanda 79-75-79—233)
8. TEXAS-ARLINGTON (893) (+41) (308-290-295) (T18 Kevin Carrigan 77-71-74—222, T18 Zack Fischer 71-77-74—222, T31 Bryce Easton 79-74-72—225, T50 Bobby Massa 81-74-76—231, 75 Michael Van de Venter DNP-71-75—146)
9. CALIFORNIA (896) (+44) (306-290-300) (10 Eric Mina 74-71-74—219, T12 John Murphy 76-71-74—221, T41 George Gandranata 77-73-77—227, T54 Stephen Hale 79-78-75—232, T65 Michael Jensen 82-75-80—237)
10. MISSISSIPPI STATE (901) (+49) (305-297-299) (T28 Carlos Sainz 77-77-70—224, T28 Josh Bevell 74-72-78—224, T37 Matt Fast 79-72-75—226, T60 Noah Goldman 75-83-76—234, 63 Brian Mason 80-76-79—235)
11. NEW MEXICO STATE (909) (+57) (309-292-308) (T7 Travis Reid 72-70-75—217, T41 Ryan Word 76-75-76—227, T50 Gaston De La Torre 79-72-80—231, T60 Tim Madigan 82-75-77—234, T70 Kevin Lozares 88-78-82—248)
12. VIRGINIA TECH (910) (+58) (302-306-302) (T12 Drew Weaver 72-75-74—221, T45 Garland Green 77-74-77—228, T48 Marshall Bailey 78-78-74—230, T60 Will Oldham 75-80-79—234, T65 Matt Boyd 81-79-77—237)
13. JACKSON STATE (992) (+140) (335-315-342) (69 Clay Myers 83-74-84—241, T70 Brett Benson 83-75-90—248, 72 Curtis Stanton 87-80-85—252, 73 Maurice Jeffries 86-87-83—256, 74 Michael Chappell 83-86-102—271)
INDIVIDUALS
TOP 15
1. Lance Lopez (Texas) 68-69-72—209 (-4)
2. Billy Horschel (Florida) 72-74-68—214 (+1)
3. Chris Ward (Texas Tech) 71-73-71—215 (+2)
T4. Nils Floren (Texas Tech) 70-73-73—216 (+3)
T4. Hugues Joannes (Lamar) 68-74-74—216 (+3)
T4. Dodge Kemmer (Stanford) 76-70-70—216 (+3)
T7. Tyson Alexander (Florida) 75-68-74—217 (+4)
T7. Travis Reid (New Mexico State) 72-70-75—217 (+4)
9. Eddie Olson (UNLV) 72-69-77—218 (+5)
10. Eric Mina (California) 74-71-74—219 (+6)
11. Bobby Hudson (Texas) 72-71-77—220 (+7)
T12. Jeff Gerlich (Texas State) 74-75-72—221 (+8)
T12. Sihwan Kim (Stanford) 75-74-72—221 (+8)
T12. Ken Looper (New Orleans) 76-71-74—221 (+8)
T12. Ji Moon (UNLV) 74-72-75—221 (+8)
T12. John Murphy (California) 76-71-74—221 (+8)
T12. Drew Weaver (Virginia Tech) 72-75-74—221 (+8)
Joannes qualifies as individual for NCAA Championship
NON-QUALIFIERS NOT ON TEAMS
T23. Cole Moreland (Auburn) 78-75-70—223 (+10)
T31. Glenn Northcutt (Auburn) 75-74-76—225 (+12)
T45. Adam Cornelson (New Orleans) 80-75-73—228 (+15)
47. Matt Carvell (Southeastern Louisiana) 81-78-70—229 (+16)
T48. Fergal Rafferty (Sam Houston State) 77-75-78—230 (+17)
T50. Cedric Scotto (Southeastern Louisiana) 77-80-74—231 (+18)
T65. Gonzalo Berlin (Jacksonville State) 77-84-76—237 (+24)
68. Corey Roberson (Texas State) 83-75-80—238 (+25)