Gators Defeat Oklahoma 3-2, Advance to Fifth SEC Championship Semifinals
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – The No. 8 Florida men’s golf team defeated the No. 6 Oklahoma Sooners 3-2 in the SEC Championship Quarterfinals on Saturday at Sea Island Golf Club.
Florida improves its conference tournament match play record to 8-4 and 11-4 all-time in postseason action. The semifinals berth if the Gators’ fifth all-time in seven match play trips, which is tied for second-most in the conference with Vanderbilt, only behind Texas A&M’s eight. Also, the eight victories rank the third-highest in the conference.
The No. 4-seed Gators will take on the No. 1-seed Auburn Tigers in the semifinals starting at approximately 1:30 p.m. with live coverage on ESPN+/SECN+ beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET. The match up will feature the last two SEC and NCAA National Champions. Florida and Auburn are set to square off for the first time in conference tournament match play.
The winner will face either No. 3 Texas A&M or No. 7 Alabama in the SEC Championship Finals tomorrow at 8 a.m. live on SEC Network.
Luke Poulter was in the first pairing and began his first conference championship match play like he began his first of stroke play, a birdie on the 10th, to go 1Up. He quickly moved to 3Up winning the next two holes.
After defeating Gordon Sargent (Vanderbilt) in 19 holes in the quarterfinals last year, Ian Gilligan took the first hole with a well executed up and down for par. He also moved to 2Up through the first two holes with a birdie. The Ben Hogan Award Semifinalist, went wire-to-wire for his win and was an early 4Up through six holes.
With Florida leading both matches vs. the No. 4-seeded Sooners out on the course, freshman Zack Swanwick was in the middle match. He wrapped up stroke play yesterday T22 at 3-under and tied his first hole with a walk-in birdie from 17-feet.
UF continued its hot start with Jack Turner, who won his match last season, snagging the first hole resulting in the Gators 3Up thru 3, 2Up thru 3 and tied thru 2 in the other three matches on the course as the anchor match with Matthew Kress just teeing off.
Once all five matches were underway and at least four holes in, the match was tied 2-2-1. As the first match made the turn – Poulter 3Up thru 9 – Florida led in the next two matches by multiple holes: 4Up thru 8 & 2Up thru 7. Turner squared his match winning hole six as Oklahoma led in the final match 4Up thru 6.
Gilligan continued his superb play and reached 6Up thru 10 as Florida controlled the momentum on the Seaside Course.
Poulter secured the first point for the Gators with a 4&2 win as Florida was moments away from clinching the morning match as Gilligan was 5Up thru 13 and Swanwick, who was tied after his first five holes, won five of the next seven holes to go 5Up thru 12. Across Poulter’s 16 holes, he won six, tied eight and only lost two.
The senior, Gilligan, grabbed the second point for UF with a 5&4 victory and the freshman Swanwick clinched the win in the inaugural win vs. the Sooners two holes later behind a 4&3 win. Gilligan only dropped one hole in his match while winning six and tying seven while Swanwick was impressive in his debut taking five holes, losing one and tying nine.
Despite not finishing their matches, Oklahoma earns two points from both Kress and Turner’s matches since the Sooners were leading in them when Florida earned the match-clinching.
Florida improves its conference tournament match play record to 8-4 and 11-4 all-time in postseason action. The semifinals berth if the Gators’ fifth all-time in seven match play trips, which is tied for second-most in the conference with Vanderbilt, only behind Texas A&M’s eight. Also, the eight victories rank the third-highest in the conference.
The No. 4-seed Gators will take on the No. 1-seed Auburn Tigers in the semifinals starting at approximately 1:30 p.m. with live coverage on ESPN+/SECN+ beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET. The match up will feature the last two SEC and NCAA National Champions. Florida and Auburn are set to square off for the first time in conference tournament match play.
The winner will face either No. 3 Texas A&M or No. 7 Alabama in the SEC Championship Finals tomorrow at 8 a.m. live on SEC Network.
Luke Poulter was in the first pairing and began his first conference championship match play like he began his first of stroke play, a birdie on the 10th, to go 1Up. He quickly moved to 3Up winning the next two holes.
After defeating Gordon Sargent (Vanderbilt) in 19 holes in the quarterfinals last year, Ian Gilligan took the first hole with a well executed up and down for par. He also moved to 2Up through the first two holes with a birdie. The Ben Hogan Award Semifinalist, went wire-to-wire for his win and was an early 4Up through six holes.
With Florida leading both matches vs. the No. 4-seeded Sooners out on the course, freshman Zack Swanwick was in the middle match. He wrapped up stroke play yesterday T22 at 3-under and tied his first hole with a walk-in birdie from 17-feet.
UF continued its hot start with Jack Turner, who won his match last season, snagging the first hole resulting in the Gators 3Up thru 3, 2Up thru 3 and tied thru 2 in the other three matches on the course as the anchor match with Matthew Kress just teeing off.
Once all five matches were underway and at least four holes in, the match was tied 2-2-1. As the first match made the turn – Poulter 3Up thru 9 – Florida led in the next two matches by multiple holes: 4Up thru 8 & 2Up thru 7. Turner squared his match winning hole six as Oklahoma led in the final match 4Up thru 6.
Gilligan continued his superb play and reached 6Up thru 10 as Florida controlled the momentum on the Seaside Course.
Poulter secured the first point for the Gators with a 4&2 win as Florida was moments away from clinching the morning match as Gilligan was 5Up thru 13 and Swanwick, who was tied after his first five holes, won five of the next seven holes to go 5Up thru 12. Across Poulter’s 16 holes, he won six, tied eight and only lost two.
The senior, Gilligan, grabbed the second point for UF with a 5&4 victory and the freshman Swanwick clinched the win in the inaugural win vs. the Sooners two holes later behind a 4&3 win. Gilligan only dropped one hole in his match while winning six and tying seven while Swanwick was impressive in his debut taking five holes, losing one and tying nine.
Despite not finishing their matches, Oklahoma earns two points from both Kress and Turner’s matches since the Sooners were leading in them when Florida earned the match-clinching.
Source link
editor's pick
latest video
Sports News To You
Subscribe to receive daily sports scores, hot takes, and breaking news!
