STATESBORO, Ga. – After being in 14th place heading into Sunday’s final round, the 14th-ranked Florida men’s golf team climbed six places to finish eighth in the Chris Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational hosted by Georgia Southern at the par-72, 6,947-yard Forest Heights Country Club. The Gators had the second-lowest round of the tournament, a 4-under-par 284 that helped them to finish at 11-over-par 875.
The Gators were led by junior Bank Vongvanij, who carded a final-round, even-par round of 72 for a 3-under-par 213 total that left him tied for sixth place.
Senior Tyson Alexander jumped 18 spots up the leaderboard to finish the tournament tied for 20th with a 54-hole score of 218 (70-77-71, +2). Senior Tim McKenney had the low score of the day for the Gators, carding a four-under 68 with six birdies to finish tied for 48th at 223. Freshman Tommy Mou shot 73 and finished in a tie for 53rd place with a tournament score of 224. Redshirt junior Andres Echavarria carded a 75 and tied for 71st place at 229. Freshman Tyler McCumber played as an individual and tied for 48th place with a 223 total.
Auburn claimed the team title, beating out North Florida by one stroke, with a team score of 862 (288-283-291, -2). North Florida boasted a 54-hole score of 863 (285-279-299, -1).
The Gators will travel to Jackson, Miss., on April 5-6 for the BancorpSouth Intercollegiate, the squad’s final event of the spring before heading to the SEC Championship on April 16-18.
CHRIS SCHENKEL E-Z-GO INVITATIONAL
At par-72, 6,947-yard Forest Heights Country Club, Statesboro, Ga.
Team scores: 1. (49) Auburn 862 (288-283-291) (-2); 2. (28) North Florida 863 (285-279-299) (-1); 3. (20) Virginia 865 (286-287-292) (+1); 4. (24) Alabama 868 (292-288-288) (+4); T5. (26) Tennessee 871 (299-291-281) (+7) and (43) Mississippi 871 (287-290-294) (+7); 7. (38) North Carolina State 872 (289-286-297) (+8); 8. (14) Florida 875 (294-297-284) (+11); 9. (27) Louisiana State 877 (291-289-297) (+13); 10. (11) South Carolina 878 (293-293-292) (+14); 11. Vanderbilt 861 (291-291-299) (+17); 12. Georgia Southern 883 (292-289-302) (+19); 13. North Carolina 888 (300-288-300) (+24); 14. Kentucky 889 (295-293-301) (+25); 15. Louisville 898 (296-300-302) (+34).
Top 10 (and ties) individuals: T1. Jordan Gibb (North Florida) 211 (70-70-71) (-5), Hunter Hamrick (Alabama) 211 (73-68-70) (-5) and (15) Jonathan Randolph (Mississippi) 211 (70-69-72) (-1); T4. J.C. Horne (North Florida) 212 (69-69-74) (-4) and (84) Kevin Phelan (North Florida) 212 (70-66-76) (-4); T6. Logan Blondell (Georgia Southern) 213 (71-68-74) (-3), Will Collins (Virginia) 213 (68-73-72) (-3), Kyle Kopsick (Auburn) 213 (72-69-72) (-3) and Bank Vongvanij (Florida) 213 (69-72-72) (-3); T10. (27) Ben Kohles (Virginia) 215 (76-68-71) (-1) and Will McCurdy (Auburn) 215 (73-70-72) (-1).
Florida team scores: T6. Bank Vongvanij 213 (69-72-72) (-3); T20. Tyson Alexander 218 (70-77-71) (+2); T48. Tim McKenney 223 (79-76-68) (+7); T53. Tommy Mou 224 (76-75-73) (+8); T71. Andres Echavarria 229 (80-74-75) (+13).
Florida individual scores: T48. Tyler McCumber 223 (74-72-76) (+7).