The men’s golf team was in Gainesville, Fla., over the weekend participating in the SunTrust Gator Invitational, hosted by the University of Florida. The three-round tournament marked the first of the spring semester for the Bulldogs. Despite going into the event with high hopes, the Bulldogs had a tough time getting the ball to roll their way, finishing 11th overall in a field of 14 teams.
Although the Bulldogs may have underperformed, there is no denying the quality of talent faced this weekend, as 10 of the schools participating are ranked in the top 50 nationally, according to GolfStat.com. Two of those schools are SEC rivals Florida and Ole Miss, who finished first (-16) and second (+2) overall, respectively.
Head coach Clay Homan said his team did not play up to its potential this weekend, especially considering the quality of opponents they competed with.
“We didn’t play well enough to beat the caliber of teams we faced,” he said. “We need some guys to step up and start posting better scores.”
Individually, the Bulldogs were led by senior Josh Bevell, who finished in a tie for 26th place at 5-over-par for the tournament. Bevell is the third Bulldog to post the team’s best score for a tournament since the fall season, and also put up the best individual score for a Bulldog in the tournament, with a 69 in round 2 Saturday. Finishing one stroke behind at 6-over-par was fellow senior Matt Fast, good enough to land him in a tie for 35th overall.
Senior Carlos Sainz Jr. finished his tournament on a very high note. On Sunday, Sainz shot a final-round 70, the best score for a Bulldog and the 11th-best of the day in a tournament field of 74. Sainz’s final day helped him finish for a tie in 50th place.
Senior Noah Goldman finished the tournament with three consecutive scores of 73, finishing the tournament at 9-over-par.
Goldman said the team had a tough time getting things rolling from the beginning and were never fully able to recover.
“It was a pretty rough weekend from start to finish. We came into the tournament looking to get off to a good start for this semester and we didn’t do that,” he said. “Hopefully this tournament can help serve as a reminder for us heading into the rest of the season.”