As far as Buddy Alexander is concerned, this week's NCAA Southeast Regional was never really about qualifying for nationals.
The way Florida's longtime golf coach sees it, qualifiers shouldn't ever be about qualifying alone.
"Whether it's qualifying for the U.S. Open or the U.S. Amateur or whatever it is you're trying to qualify for," Alexander said, "if you look ahead to try to win, I think you're a whole lot better off than if you're looking over your shoulder the entire time."
That's exactly what Alexander told his Gator golf team after Friday's lackluster second round left them too close to the bubble for comfort. And Florida responded authoritatively in Saturday's final round, shooting a combined 11-under to run away with the regional title and cruise into nationals on a high note.
"That's what good teams do," Alexander said, "they bounce back."
How bad did things get for the region's top seed this week? During Friday's second round, No. 4 Gator Tommy Mou caught a glimpse of the scoreboard from the 15th tee and saw his team in ninth place at just 1-under.
"I was like 'oh gosh,'" Mou recalled. "But I know we're all good players and we play this course a lot. I knew my teammates would come through in the clutch, and they all did. Now we're sitting pretty good."
Mou stepped up as much as anyone. The sophomore out of Bradenton shot his best round of the week on Saturday, a 70, but that solid number doesn't tell the full story of how involved Mou was in Florida's comeback. Mou played a 21 hole-stretch starting at Friday's turn at an 8-under clip, including eight total birdies and a Saturday eagle on No. 12.
"It's not like I played bad the last two days," said Mou, who shot 74s both Thursday and Friday. "It was just little mistakes, course management, stuff like that. Today I played smarter off the tee and it paid off."
Andres Echavarria played his third straight strong round for the Gators, finishing his tournament with a second-straight 68 that climbed him into a team-best fourth-place individual finish at 9-under. It was the continuation of an excellent run of golf for the senior out of Medellin, Colombia, who won the SEC individual championship last month and finished second in a Nationwide Tour event in March.
Florida No. 1 Bank Vongvanij finished T-6th after a Saturday 69 pulled him to 7-under for the tourney. Sophomore No. 2 Phillip Choi closed with a 70 to finish T-12th (4-under).
Three golfers -- Augusta State's Patrick Reed, N.C. State's Mitchell Sutton and Missouri's Jace Long -- shared individual honors, each finishing the week at 10-under. It was especially significant for Long, who, unlike the other two, would not be advancing to nationals as part of a top-five finishing team (Missouri finished sixth, two strokes out of contention) and could only advance as the top-scoring individual.
Long burned up Golden Ocala on Saturday for a course-record 62 to move from completely out of the picture into a qualifying spot.
"My focus just sharpened," Long said. "I just felt like I couldn't miss."
That was certainly true on No. 8, where Long struck a pitching wedge from 135 yards and holed out for an eagle.
Southeastern Louisiana's Rhys West (8-under, fifth place), Georgia Southern's Logan Blondell (7-under, T-6th) and Baylor's Payne Gniewek (7-under, T-6th) were the top-finishing golfers not to qualify.
Along with Florida, defending national champion Augusta State (-12), Kennesaw State (-11), N.C. State (-9) and Arkansas (-8) advanced as teams.
Each of them — along with Missouri's Long — will compete at nationals beginning May 31 in Stillwater, Okla., where host Oklahoma State is widely regarded as the team to beat this year.
"I think everybody projects to be a little bit behind Oklahoma State ... playing on their home course," Alexander said. "Beyond them, I think there's 29 teams that might win this thing."
