The Gators are the No. 3 seed and are set to face No. 6 Texas tomorrow in the quarterfinals at 9:50 a.m. with live coverage on Golf Channel from 1-3:30 p.m. The winner between Florida and the Longhorns will face the winner between No. 2 Auburn vs. No. 7 Virginia in the semifinals in the afternoon at 4:15 p.m. with coverage on Golf Channel starting at 6 p.m.  

In 2023, UF reached match play for the first time in program history since the match play era began in 2009. They went on to defeat Virginia (3-2, quarterfinals), Florida State (3-2, semifinals) and Georgia Tech (3-1, finals) for the fifth National Championship in program history behind Fred Biondi winning the NCAA Individual National Title. That same season, Florida won the SEC Championship with wins over Ole Miss (4-1, quarterfinals), Texas A&M (3-2, semifinals) and Vanderbilt (3-1-1, finals).  

In match play this season, Florida is 5-1 with a 3-0 mark at the SEC Championship and 2-1 record at the Barbara Nicklaus Cup. The Gators defeated Oklahoma 3-2 in the conference quarterfinals, the reigning and conference champions Auburn 3.5-1.5 in semifinals and Texas A&M 4-1 in the finals. 

Matthew Kress is the lone returner from the 2023 squad and played in all three rounds of match play. In postseason match play, he owns a 4-6 career record. The next four Gators have match play records in the postseason of 3-0-1 for Ian Gilligan, 3-0 for both Luke Poulter and Zack Swanwick and Jack Turner 2-2.

On the other side of the bracket features matchups of No. 1 Arizona State vs. No. 8 Ole Miss and No. 4 Oklahoma State vs. No. 5 Oklahoma as the National Championship Finals are scheduled for Wednesday at 5:25 p.m. live on Golf Channel with the broadcast beginning at 6 p.m.

Florida looks to capture its sixth NCAA National Team Championship in program history and second in the last three seasons. The victory would tie the for sixth-most national team titles in the country with Harvard and lead the SEC as both Florida and LSU have five national titles currently. 

A national title would also result in a victory all three postseason events in a season for the first-time ever, the Gators have won the prior two postseason tournaments at the SEC Championship and at the NCAA Bremerton Regional – marking the fourth time in program history they won both in the same season with the last time being in 2014. 

Debuting the season at No. 8, senior Ian Gilligan finished No. 4 in the final PGA Tour University Rankings. The finish earns him Korn Ferry Tour membership for the remainder of the season along with Final Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School with 2026 membership in the PGA TOUR Americas through the Latin America Swing. He is the fourth Gator to finish top-10 in the final rankings, joining 2023 of Fred Biondi (No. 2), Ricky Castillo (No. 9) and Yuxin Lin (No. 10). 

Florida tied for the lowest-round (-8) this afternoon and second-lowest of the tournament with top-seeded Arizona State (-14). The final round produced a 72-hole score of 9-under 1143, its lowest score by par at the National Championships since 26-under in 2001, when Florida won the team title. The last time UF shot 9-under in a round at nationals was round four in 2006. 

After making the turn even, the Gators closed strong again with a 7-under performance on holes 17-18, highlighted by Kress’ hole-out for eagle on the par 5 18th. Through four rounds at La Costa, the Gators played the final two holes 12-under.

Kress logged his third straight round under par with a 2-under 70 to finish 3-under and a T9 performance during his 40th career postseason round. With the finish he earned NCAA All-Tournament Team and All-American status. Last week at NCAA Regionals, he finished runner-up at 9-under.

Also collecting both all-tournament and all-american honors with Kress is Gilligan, who finished with a final round of 4-under 68 behind four birdies in his final six holes. He placed T13 for his sixth career top-23 in postseason action. 

All four counting scores were par or better for the Orange and Blue as Jack Turner had a 2-under 70 as the sophomore improved each round this week. Closing with a one of four birdies on the 18th, freshman Zack Swanwick made his 12th of the week for an even-par 72. 

Despite having the non-counting score of 76 (+4), Luke Poulter ended with momentum behind three birdies in his last four holes. 

Post Round Quotes – Head Coach J.C. Deacon

 

On reaching match play and the strong finish today…

“Everyday we have had great contributions all around and had an unreal finish from the guys today. We did not have the day we wanted yesterday and it was a perfect wake up call. I think we really need it. We had a great team meeting last night where I could the tell the guys this morning were really focused and ready to play. A rough front nine, but we finished exactly how we wanted with momentum into tomorrow.

 

“We learned a lot last year the hard way. We didn’t play very well, but we took a lot from it. The more you get to see this place, the more you learn. Our guys have adjusted well all year and we are excited that we got a tee time tomorrow.”

NCAA National Championship Quarterfinals vs. No. 6 Texas

6:50 a.m. – Luke Poulter vs. Tommy Morrison

7 a.m. – Zack Swanwick vs. Daniel Bennett

7:10 a.m. – Jack Turner vs. Luke Potter

7:20 a.m. – Matthew Kress vs. Jack Gilbert

7:30 a.m. – Ian Gilligan vs. Christiaan Maas

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