“When Dudley got here, that’s when we went from good to great,” Deacon said.
In 2021, the Gators finished ninth at the Southeastern Conference tournament, were the last team to make the cut at their NCAA regional and finished 22nd at the national championships, failing to reach the match-play portion for the 12th time in as many tries since the NCAA instituted the format in 2009.
It was after that season that UF assistant Mark Leon left to become head coach at Florida Atlantic. Hart, a nearly 30-year veteran on the PGA Tour and one of the greatest players in UF history, was in his fourth year as a volunteer assistant for the team. Hart let it be known he was very interested in the assistant coach vacancy, with Deacon pushing back with some real talk about the demands of the job, specifically the grind of recruiting.
“Duds,” as he’s know around the clubhouse, was undeterred. This is what he wanted. This was his true passion.
“Every job has responsibilities that you just have to understand and accept. That’s just part of the deal,” said Hart, now 54, who in 2002 rose to the No. 21 ranking in the world. “You want to be a great program, you have to get guys who are talented and then you have to mold and shape them because you don’t just come out of the womb knowing how to play golf. I didn’t and I don’t know anybody who has. I’m still learning at my age and I tell all these guys you have to have an open mind and be ready to have conversations about different things with regard to golf. There are infinite scenarios this game can throw at you.”
And it was with those conversations — whether on the practice range or on the golf course — that Hart, with his more than $12.6 million in career earnings and those three decades of professional experience, excelled and helped Deacon and his team navigate some choppy waters on the way to the program’s fifth NCAA title…
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