The
Florida men’s golf team used
a final round 297 to win the 2012 Sea Best Invitational by 15 strokes over Liberty
at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. It marks the second straight
year that the Gators have won the tournament, which was formerly known as the
JU Invitational. For the tournament, UF was led by junior T.J. Vogel
(Cooper City, Fla.) who took home medalist honors after firing a three-round
total of 216 (E).
“Today
was a good day for us,” said head coach Buddy Alexander. “We didn’t have
our good stuff but we gutted it out. The best part about this win is that we
worked so hard during the break and to see immediate results is really great.
Golf is a funny game and sometimes you can put in a lot of work and not see
results for a long time, sometimes never, so to go out there and get this win
sets a really good tone for the rest of the spring.”
Vogel,
who had finished in the top-eight of his last three events, carded a solid
final round of 74 (+2) to claim the first individual title of his career. Vogel
used four birdies, countered by four bogeys and a double, to win the event by
two-strokes over Rhys Enoch of East Tennessee State and Harold Varner of East
Carolina.
“It
was really cool for T.J. to get the first win of his career here,” Alexander
said. “He was one of the guys who didn’t have his best stuff today but was able
to put tougher a solid round to help him win the tournament.”
Tyler
McCumber
(Ponte Vedra, Fla.) fired his second consecutive round in the red with a one-under
71 to finish the tournament tied for 11th. McCumber got off to a solid start on
the day making a birdie on the par-5 second and adding another on the par-4
sixth to go out in 34 (-2). On his homeward half, McCumber started slow with a
pair of bogeys to get his round back to level par, but the junior was able to
get a shot back with a birdie at the famed 17th island green to finish the day
at -1.
“I’m
really proud of how Tyler bounced back after the first round,” Alexander
explained. “It shows a lot about his drive and work ethic to go out there and
put up back-to-back rounds under par after a tough 83 in round one.”
Freshman
Eric Banks (Truro, Canada) joined McCumber in11th place after a final
round 74. After making the turn in three-over 39, Banks was able to right the
ship and used birdies on 13 and 16 to come in with a 35 and post the best
finish of his young career.
Following
a final round 78, senior Michael Furci (Sayville, N.Y.) earned his first
top-20 finish of the year after closing the tournament in 11-over, while
junior Tommy Mou (Bradenton, Fla.) rounded out the Gators in the field
with a three round total of 236.
