Senior Bank Vongvanij (Bradenton, Fla.) recorded a second-place finish and led his team to the championship on the third and final day of the Olympia Fields Invitational in Chicago on Sunday.
After starting the day in a tie for third place, Vongvanij carded a bogey on hole three, followed with a birdie on hole four and made another bogey on the 10th hole to finish one over par.
“This is a big win for us,” said Head Coach Buddy Alexander. “I don’t know if these guys realize how tough this tournament is. They made it look easy with their consistency this weekend.”
Sophomore Tyler McCumber (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) started the day out in a tie for 12th place. He made a birdie on the first hole, followed with a bogey on hole two, carded a birdie on the fifth hole and a bogey on the eighth to shoot even par and finish the final round tied for fifth place.
After an impressive second day, senior Andres Echavarria (Medellin, Colombia) finished in a seventh-place tie after making one birdie and three bogeys in round three.
Sophomore Phillip Choi (Orlando, Fla.) and junior Michael Furci (Sayville, N.Y.) finished in a tie for 36th and 58th, respectively.
Florida set a new tournament 54-hole scoring record with its total score of 845, breaking the old mark of 852 set by Illinois in 2008. Both No. 1 Oklahoma State and defending national champion Augusta State tied for second place shooting a 852 and finished 12 over par. In addition, the Gators scored ahead of 10 schools ranked in GolfWorld’s preseason Top 25 and five that finished in the top 10 at last year’s NCAA Championship.
Last year the Gators finished the tournament in sixth place. The last time the Gators won the first tournament of the year was in 2005, when they finished in first at the Inverness Invitational.
The Gators will be back in action for the Jerry Pate Invitational on Monday, Oct. 11 in Birmingham, Ala. Check www.GatorZone.com for updated news and results.
Final Team Scores
| Place | School | Round One | Round Two | Round Three | Final Score |
| 1 | FLORIDA | 280 | 280 | 285 | 845 |
| T2 | Oklahoma State | 286 | 280 | 286 | 852 |
| T2 | Augusta State | 280 | 286 | 286 | 852 |
| 4 | Alabama | 285 | 283 | 289 | 857 |
| 5 | Texas | 289 | 282 | 287 | 858 |
| 6 | Duke | 286 | 284 | 291 | 861 |
| 7 | Ohio State | 282 | 289 | 294 | 865 |
| 8 | Illinois | 287 | 291 | 288 | 866 |
| T9 | Purdue | 291 | 285 | 294 | 870 |
| T9 | Stanford | 287 | 288 | 295 | 870 |
| 11 | Northwestern | 290 | 292 | 290 | 872 |
| 12 | California | 290 | 296 | 289 | 875 |
| 13 | Indiana | 286 | 293 | 299 | 878 |
| 14 | Florida State | 304 | 287 | 288 | 879 |
| 15 | Arizona State | 296 | 301 | 287 | 884 |
Final Individual Top 10
| Place | Player (School) | Round One | Round Two | Round Three | Score |
| 1 | Peter Uihlein (Oklahoma State) | 69 | 65 | 70 | 204 |
| 2 | Bank Vongvanij (Florida) | 70 | 67 | 70 | 207 |
| T3 | Bud Cauley (Alabama) | 66 | 70 | 73 | 209 |
| T3 | Patrick Reed (Augusta State) | 72 | 70 | 73 | 209 |
| T5 | Tyler McCumber (Florida) | 68 | 73 | 70 | 211 |
| T5 | Bobby Hudson (Texas) | 69 | 70 | 72 | 211 |
| T7 | Andres Echavarria (Florida) | 72 | 67 | 73 | 212 |
| T7 | Eric Chun (Northwestern) | 68 | 72 | 72 | 212 |
| T7 | Scott Langley (Illinois) | 71 | 71 | 70 | 212 |
| T7 | Yaroslav Merkulov (Duke) | 67 | 73 | 72 | 212 |
Final Florida Results
| Place | Player | Round One | Round Two | Round Three | Score |
| 2 | Bank Vongvanij | 70 | 67 | 70 | 207 |
| T5 | Tyler McCumber | 68 | 73 | 70 | 211 |
| T7 | Andres Echavarria | 72 | 67 | 73 | 212 |
| T36 | Phillip Choi | 74 | 73 | 72 | 219 |
| T58 | Michael Furci | 70 | 74 | 80 | 224 |
