Senior Bank Vongvanij (Bradenton, Fla.) shot four under par to lead the Florida men’s golf team to a first-place finish after the first round of the NCAA Regional Tournament in Ocala, Fla. on Thursday.
Vongvanij made five birdies and one bogey on the day to finish in a tie for fourth place, only two strokes behind leader Jack Dukeminier of Oregon.
The Gators played without sophomore Tyler McCumber (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.), the No. 4 player in the lineup, after he injured his finger earlier in the month.
Sophomore Phillip Choi (Orlando, Fla.) finished one stroke behind Vongvanij with a score of 69 in eighth place after making six birdies and three bogeys on the day.
Redshirt senior Andres Echavarria (Medellin, Colombia) shot a 71 to finish in a tie for 11th.
“We had a really solid day,” Florida head coach Buddy Alexander said. “As I said earlier in the week, this has been a nervous week and today was a particular nervous day with Tyler out and Echavarria sick. I really wasn’t sure what to expect, but I thought we played solidly and I am happy with our start.”
Sophomore Tommy Mou (Bradenton, Fla.) and junior Michael Furci (Sayville, N.Y.) both shot a 74 and finished in a tie for 43rd.
Today’s round marks the sixth time this season the Gators have led after the first round. As a result, they won the Olympia Fields Invitational, the JU Invitational, the Gator Invitational and the SEC Championship and finished second at the Jerry Pate Invitational.
“We still have a lot of golf left to play,” Alexander said. “We need to go out tomorrow and play like we did today.”
Florida will tee off at 8 a.m. to begin round two on Friday. Please check back to www.GatorZone.com for updates and follow www.golfstat.com for live scoring.
Team Results After Round One
| Place | Team | Score | Par |
| 1 | FLORIDA | 282 | -6 |
| 2 | Arkansas | 283 | -5 |
| T3 | Baylor | 284 | -4 |
| T3 | N.C. State | 284 | -4 |
| T5 | Oregon | 285 | -3 |
| T5 | Georgia Southern | 285 | -3 |
| 7 | Notre Dame | 288 | E |
| T8 | Southeastern Louisiana | 290 | +2 |
| T8 | Kennesaw State | 290 | +2 |
| T8 | Augusta State | 290 | +2 |
| T11 | Missouri | 294 | +6 |
| T11 | Jacksonville State | 294 | +6 |
| 13 | UCF | 298 | +10 |
| 14 | Jackson State | 325 | +37 |
Top 10 Individual Results After Round One
| Place | Player (School) | Score | Par |
| 1 | Jack Dukeminier (Oregon) | 66 | -6 |
| T2 | Ben Greene (Kennesaw State) | 67 | -5 |
| T2 | Philipp Westermann (Southeastern La.) | 67 | -5 |
| T4 | BANK VONGVANIJ (FLORIDA) | 68 | -4 |
| T4 | Mitchell Sutton (N.C. State) | 68 | -4 |
| T4 | Niall Platt (Notre Dame) | 68 | -4 |
| T8 | PHILLIP CHOI (FLORIDA) | 69 | -3 |
| T8 | Logan Blondell (Georgia Southern) | 69 | -3 |
| 10 | Cody Paladino (Baylor) | 70 | -2 |
Florida Results
| Place | Player | Score | Par |
| T4 | Bank Vongvanij | 68 | -4 |
| T8 | Phillip Choi | 69 | -3 |
| T11 | Andres Echavarria | 71 | -1 |
| T48 | Tommy Mou | 73 | +2 |
| T48 | Michael Furci | 73 | +2 |
