Gators, Echavarria in First Place After Day One of SunTrust Invitational

Redshirt senior Andres Echavarria (Medellin, Colombia) and the Florida men’s golf team finished in first place after rounds one and two on the first day of the SunTrust Invitational on Saturday at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.

The Gators recorded a 281 in round one and followed it up with a 282 in round two to lead second-place finisher Auburn by six strokes.

Echavarria took the lead in round two after shooting a 69 in round one and making 18-consecutive pars in the second round.

“I managed my game really well today,” said Echavarria. “I hit the right shots and wasn’t too aggressive. It took a lot of patience and I’m proud of the way I played.”

Sophomore Phillip Choi (Orlando, Fla.) finished two strokes behind Echavarria after making three birdies in the second round and one in the first.

Senior Bank Vongvanij (Bradenton, Fla.) and sophomore Tyler McCumber (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) finished the day in a tie for fifth. McCumber made four birdies in round one and five in round two to earn a 142. Vongvanij made four birdies in round one for a 68, but made four bogeys in round two to finish with a 142.

Sophomore Tommy Mou (Bradenton, Fla.) made three birdies, seven bogeys and one double bogey to finish tied for 25^th on the day. Freshman Payne Denman (Riverwatch, Tenn.) and junior Michael Furci (Sayville, N.Y.) competed as individuals in the tournament and finished tied for 41^st and 48^th, respectively.

Florida will be back in action Sunday morning for the third and final round at 8 a.m. Admission is free to the public.

Team Top 10

Place	School	To Par	Round One Score	Round Two Score	Total
1	FLORIDA	+3	281	282	563
2	Auburn	+9	291	278	569
3	LSU	+14	294	280	574
4	UCF	+15	292	283	575
5	UNF	+19	291	288	579
6	Ole Miss	+11	292	291	583
T7	Florida State	+24	295	289	584
T7	Coastal Carolina	+24	289	295	584
9	Lamar	+27	296	291	587
10	Mississippi State	+39	303	296	599
11	UAB	+40	298	302	600
12	Georgia State	+46	308	298	606
T13	Georgia Southern	+51	310	301	611
T13	Jacksonville	+51	310	301	611

Individual Top 10

Place	Player (School)	To Par	Round One	Round Two	Total
1	ANDRES ECHAVARRIA (FLORIDA)	-1	69	70	139
2	Jonathan Randolph, Ole Miss	E	70	70	140
T3	PHILLIP CHOI, FLORIDA	+1	72	69	141
T3	Drew Kittleson, Florida State	+1	72	69	141
T5	Blayne Barber, Auburn	+2	73	69	142
T5	Niclas Carlsson, Auburn	+2	72	70	142
T5	MJ Daffue, Lamar	+2	73	69	142
T5	Ken Looper, LSU	+2	73	69	142
T5	TYLER MCCUMBER, FLORIDA	+2	73	69	142
T5	BANK VONGVANIJ, FLORIDA	+2	68	74	142

Florida Scores

Place	Player	Round One Score	Round Two Score	Total Score
1	Andres Echavarria	69	70	139
T3	Phillip Choi	72	69	141
T5	Tyler McCumber	73	69	142
T5	Bank Vongvanij	68	74	142
T25	Tommy Mou	72	74	146
T41	Payne Denman*	71	79	150
T48	Michael Furci*	78	74	152