TOURNAMENT HISTORY

The Gators are set to make their 35th appearance in the 45th annual Schenkel Invitational, one of the most prestigious golf tournaments in collegiate golf. The event was created to honor Hall of Fame broadcaster Chris Schenkel, who was the first to cover The Masters on television, the first to anchor a live telecast of the Olympics and the first to call a nationally broadcast college football game. 

Last year, the Gators won the team title behind a  a season-low of 27-under par, which is tied for 9th lowest all-time by par in program history, last set in the 2001 NCAA Regional. Florida won by four shots as the victory is also the fifth all-time at the Schenkel Invitational, tied for second most by a school at the event and one behind leaders Oklahoma State and Wake Forest. 

 

UF participated in the inaugural event in 1971, finishing runner-up. The Gators have won the event four times (1972, 1975, 2004 2017), finished top-5 on 23 occasions and have had six medalists, including Andy Bean and Phil Hancock   . 

COMPETING TEAMS (NCAA Rankings as of March 19)

Army West Point, Campbell, Florida (No. 11), Georgia Southern, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Middle Tennessee, Notre Dame (No. 38, UAB, Utah (No. 12), West Virginia, Wisconsin and Yale.

LAST TIME OUT

Florida placed T5 at the Southern Highlands Collegiate, tying for a tournament-best 7-under final round.

After shooting +19 in the opening windy round and +7 in the second, Florida continued to improve each round with five out of six Gators shooting par or better today. The team round of 7-under was tied for the lowest with No. 2/2 Auburn, who won the tournament at 9-under. 

Three Gators finished in the top-21 led by Jack Turner with an 8th place performance for his team-high fifth top-10. He fired a final round of 4-under 68, which after a bogey on his third hole, he finished bogey-free with five birdies. The sophomore recorded his 10th career top-10 in his 15th collegiate stroke play event while marking his team-high 11th par or better round this season. 

FALL RECAP

The Orange and Blue concluded the fall slate finishing top-9 in all four outings, highlighted by winning the Barbara Nicklaus Cup, finishing runner-up at the Sahalee Players Championship and shooting the lowest round of the fall (-11) in the final 18-holes of the first half of the season. 

Individually, Ian Gilligan (71.0) and Jack Turner (71.1) paced the Gators in stroke average, top-10 finishes (2) and undefeated (3-0) in match play. Turner finished 4th twice and averaged -0.2 per round and -0.6 per tournament.  

AWARDS, HONORS & MORE

The duo of Ian Gilligan and Jack Turner were both named to the Ben Hogan Award Watch List, the annual award given to the top men’s NCAA college golfer. 

Gilligan is currently ranked No. 5 in the PGA Tour U Rankings after starting the season at No. 8. He also won SEC Golfer of the Week for his efforts at the Gators Invitational. 

NEW GATORS

The Orange and Blue welcomed two new golfers this season in Parker Sands (Edmond, Okla.) and Zack Swanwick (Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand). This summer, Sands won the 2024 Western Junior and the OGA (Oklahoma Golf Association) Junior Championship. Swanwick was the low amateur at the New Zealand Open and placed 3rd at the 2024 Austrian Masters of Amateur. 

Recently, Florida announced the addition of transfer Noah Kent from Iowa. He will compete for the Gators starting next fall and is from Naples and played at Gulf Coast Prep.

A SEASON AGO

Following Florida’s SEC and National Championship Titles, the Gators featured a new look lineup while three First-Team All-Americans – Fred Biondi (NCAA Individual Champion), Ricky Castillo and Yuxin Lin – all departed. Returning from the title teams was John DuBois and Matthew Kress.

After a shaky last fall, the Gators responded with five wins in the spring to total six on the season. Florida recorded consecutive seasons with six wins for the first time since 1973-74 and 1974-75. UF ended the spring portion of the season with five tournament wins and a 4th place finish at the Southern Highlands Collegiate, that featured Ian Gilligan winning medalist honors and earning an exemption into the PGA Tour’s 2024 Shriners Open in October.

The Orange and Blue have now claimed 27 team titles under head coach J.C. Deacon in 10 seasons. It marked the seventh season under Deacon UF has won multiple tournaments in a year and fourth of three-plus. Six tournament wins in a season is tied for the most under Deacon, which came last season and included an SEC and National Championship.

The new look Gators left their mark in the postseason. At the SEC Championship, UF was led by true freshman Jack Turner, who posted a team-best T2 finish in his first conference tournament start. The performance ties the second-best finish by a Gator true freshman at the SEC Championship with Camilo Villegas, who placed T2 in 2001. Vanderbilt and Florida meet for the third straight season in match play SEC Championship with the Commodores edging out the Gators 3-2 in extra holes in the quarterfinals.  

Moving to Regionals and entering round three in the final advancing spot by four-shots, the Gators shot a final round of 2-under to take 3rd and make the cut by 12 strokes.Through the first hour-and-half in the final rounds, teams battled rainy and cold conditions. Florida put together great start and setup for success when the rain stopped, with a combined 1-under on the first hole (#10) and was even-par on counting scores through the first five holes in the rain.

 

Florida made a charge in the final nine holes after finding itself 1-over at the turn and only a four-shot advantage over Indiana, who had just teed off its round its. The Florida separation began with a trio of birdies from Parker Bell, John DuBois and Ian Gilligan. Then Jack Turner put the Hoosiers and Mississippi State’s comeback efforts out of reach with a birdie on six to go up by 10 shots and into fourth place. 

At the NCAA National Championship, Florida concluded with an 11th-place finish and battled for back-to-back match play appearances. An important 1-under 287 third round on Saturday helped advance Florida to the final round of stroke play for the third consecutive season. The Gators started the day in eighth, and in the final match-play spot with a one-shot advantage. The Orange and Blue continued its streak of five straight top-11 finishes after winning the national title – 1974: 2nd, 1994: 3rd, 1969: T5 and 2002: T11.

SUMMER RECAP

Across the board, the Gators captured success this summer, highlighted by securing three spots on the 2024 Western Amateur Semifinals in Parker Bell, Ian Gilligan and Jack Turner. Gilligan and Turner met in a marathon final with Gilligan winning in the 29-hole final. The victory also marked a Gator sweep of the Western with incoming freshman Parker Sands winning the Western Junior.

Bell made his major debut in the U.S. Open and made the first birdie of the tournament and was the leader at one point. He shot a final round of 70 and led the field in driving distance of 346.9 compared to 310.9 in the first two rounds. The junior also finished 4th at the Southern Amateur.

Gilligan made his PGA Tour Debut at the Barracuda Championship, making the cut and finishing T40. He also was part of Team USA’s victory at the Arnold Palmer Cup and reached the quarterfinals of the North & South Amateur.

Redshirt-freshman Rylan Shim closed out the summer with a 3rd place outing at the Canadian Amateur to go with a semifinals berth at the VSGA (Virginia State Golf Association) Amateur. 

Ryan Hart collected medalist honors at Wykagyl Country Club to secure a spot in the U.S. Amateur.

THE TURN

One more regular season tournament remains in the Calusa Cup (April 6-8) before the first part of the postseason at the SEC Championship (April 23-27) at St. Simons Island, Ga. at Sea Island Golf Club.