Saturday, February 9
Gainesville, Fla.
All Day
University of North Florida
at
Gator Invitational
Jordan Gibb will make his first start of the year in Gainesville.
Osprey Golf Weekly
2/7/2008 11:08:27 AM | Men's Golf
UNF begins spring season
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida golf team will get back on the course this week when it heads to Gainesville, Fla., for the SunTrust Gator Invitational.
The opening two rounds begin with a shotgun start on Saturday followed by a final round of play on Sunday.
UNF is trying to get over its three-year slump at the Gator, where it hasn't finished better than ninth since posting a fourth-place finish in 2004.
The push towards a berth in the NCAA Regional begins this weekend against a field full of some of the strongest teams in the nation. Top-25 programs Charlotte (3), Duke (9), FloridaState (15) and Florida (18) will all be present this week.
Schedule: Feb. 9-10 (2 Rounds Saturday, 1 Round Sunday, 18 holes per round)
Live Scoring: Click Here
Last Season: UNF finished ninth, shooting a team score of 872 (+32). Michael O'Neal carded his second top-10 finish of the season after shooting a final-round 73 and finishing tied for seventh. His score helped UNF record the second lowest round of the day (287) on the final day of competition.
Who's Hot: UNF freshman Major Forbess held the 18-hole and 36-hole lead at the Gate Petroleum Invitational over the holiday break but fell victim in a playoff after shooting a 73 in the final round at the Ponte Vedra Inn and Club Ocean Course. The tournament traditionally features one of the strongest fields in Jacksonville, with both professionals and amateurs competing in the event.
Notables: UNF has started at least one freshman in every event the last three seasons and will bring two to this week's event (Major Forbess and Chris Kennedy) … the Ospreys head into the spring with a No. 74 national ranking in the Golfstat national poll and a No. 66 ranking in the latest Golfweek poll … Chris Kennedy is 8-8 against players ranked in the Golfstat top-100 this year … UNF has added a tournament this spring and will now play in the E-Z-Go Invitational in Statesboro, Ga., March 14-16 … as a result of adding the E-Z-Go to the schedule, UNF will not compete in the Palisades Collegiate, hosted by Charlotte … Jordan Gibb – an All-A-Sun Freshman selection last season – will make his first start of the season this week in Gainesville … UNF assistant coach Rob Bradley has gained conditional status on the Nationwide Tour this year after his finish at the PGA Tour's Q School in the fall.
UNF Starting Five (alphabetical order):
Course: Mark Bostick Golf Course (Par 70, 6,701 yards)
Field: Coastal Carolina, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Georgia Southern, GeorgiaState, LSU, MississippiState, Ole Miss, South Alabama, South Florida, UAB, UNF, WakeForest
Quoting Jeff Dennis: “It's a key for us to get on a good roll and start making a push toward a regional spot. We didn't play as well as we could have in the fall, but we didn't play ourselves out of a regional berth either. We are going to go into the Gator Invitational with confidence. This should be a course that sets up well for us.”
Monday, December 05
Monday, October 31
Monday, October 24
Tuesday, October 18
