GAINESVILLE, Fla. – It was a sweep in the 48th Gators Invitational for the No. 13 Florida men’s golf team, winning the home tournament for the sixth consecutive year and Ian Gilligan securing medalist honors in a two-hole playoff on Sunday.
The victory was the 31st overall and 16th sweep (team and individual title) at the home tournament as Florida has now claimed 29 tournament titles under head coach J.C. Deacon in 11 seasons. This is the seventh season under Deacon UF has won multiple tournaments in a year. Gilligan’s medalist honors total 23 all-time under Deacon at Florida and at least one in the last four consecutive seasons.
Florida’s lineup this weekend featured four underclassmen: Jack Turner (Soph.), Luke Poulter (Soph.), Rylan Shim (R-Fr.) and Parker Sands (Fr.). The last time UF had at least four underclassmen in the lineup for the Gators Invitational was in 2021: Fred Biondi (R-Soph.), Ricky Castillo (Soph.), Yuxin Lin (Soph.), Joe Pagdin (Fr.) and Tyler Wilkes (Fr.).
The team and individual results came down in dramatic fashion in the final round at Mark Bostick Golf Course. Florida entered the day with a two-shot lead and battled back multiple times to edge No. 7 Oklahoma State, who finished second at 16-under.
After a string of birdies on nine tied the Gators and Cowboys, UF quickly found itself three strokes behind on holes 9-12 before Gilligan’s birdies on 11 and 12 squared the two teams at 18-under. Florida grabbed a one-shot lead with clutch birdies at the end from Luke Poulter on 16 and Rylan Shim at 17.
With the team title coming down to the wire, play was delayed for an hour-and-six minutes as it poured with winds up to 20 mph and gusts of 40 as Poulter was on 18 and Gilligan at 17. Play resumed with a light drizzle as Poulter closed with an important par for an even-par 70 and T6 finish at 3-under overall while Gilligan closed with back-to-back pars to clinch the team title and second tournament title of the season.
Tied at 8-under through 54-holes with Charlotte’s Justin Matthews, Gilligan and he went to a playoff for medalist honors as both made par on the first playoff hole on 18. Gilligan won his sixth collegiate event and second as a Gator behind his par on the second playoff hole (hole one) as Matthews went bogey. Gilligan finished with a 54-hole score of 8-under 202 with all three rounds in the 60s (66-67-69). The senior closed his six career rounds at the Gators Invitational all under-par…
The victory was the 31st overall and 16th sweep (team and individual title) at the home tournament as Florida has now claimed 29 tournament titles under head coach J.C. Deacon in 11 seasons. This is the seventh season under Deacon UF has won multiple tournaments in a year. Gilligan’s medalist honors total 23 all-time under Deacon at Florida and at least one in the last four consecutive seasons.
Florida’s lineup this weekend featured four underclassmen: Jack Turner (Soph.), Luke Poulter (Soph.), Rylan Shim (R-Fr.) and Parker Sands (Fr.). The last time UF had at least four underclassmen in the lineup for the Gators Invitational was in 2021: Fred Biondi (R-Soph.), Ricky Castillo (Soph.), Yuxin Lin (Soph.), Joe Pagdin (Fr.) and Tyler Wilkes (Fr.).
The team and individual results came down in dramatic fashion in the final round at Mark Bostick Golf Course. Florida entered the day with a two-shot lead and battled back multiple times to edge No. 7 Oklahoma State, who finished second at 16-under.
After a string of birdies on nine tied the Gators and Cowboys, UF quickly found itself three strokes behind on holes 9-12 before Gilligan’s birdies on 11 and 12 squared the two teams at 18-under. Florida grabbed a one-shot lead with clutch birdies at the end from Luke Poulter on 16 and Rylan Shim at 17.
With the team title coming down to the wire, play was delayed for an hour-and-six minutes as it poured with winds up to 20 mph and gusts of 40 as Poulter was on 18 and Gilligan at 17. Play resumed with a light drizzle as Poulter closed with an important par for an even-par 70 and T6 finish at 3-under overall while Gilligan closed with back-to-back pars to clinch the team title and second tournament title of the season.
Tied at 8-under through 54-holes with Charlotte’s Justin Matthews, Gilligan and he went to a playoff for medalist honors as both made par on the first playoff hole on 18. Gilligan won his sixth collegiate event and second as a Gator behind his par on the second playoff hole (hole one) as Matthews went bogey. Gilligan finished with a 54-hole score of 8-under 202 with all three rounds in the 60s (66-67-69). The senior closed his six career rounds at the Gators Invitational all under-par…
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