TOURNEY TIDBITS: 2023 Gator Invitational

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida men's golf gets ready to play its third consecutive weekend to start the spring season when they travel to Gainesville, Fla., to compete in the Gator Invitational hosted by Florida from Feb. 11-12 at Mark Bostick Golf Course.

This will be the third and final tournament that the Ospreys will be playing in the state of Florida this spring. They have a pair of runner-up team finishes at the Sea Best Invitational and The Hayt, as they look to break through with a win this weekend.

COURSE REPORT

Mark Bostick Golf Course (Gainesville, Fla.)
Par 70 | 6,701 Yards
54 holes (Three rounds of 18 holes)

ON THE TEE

Nick Gabrelcik (69.10)
Robbie Higgins (70.24)
Davis Lee (72.10)
Cooper Smith (72.27)
Justin Ross (71.00)

THE FIELD: 14 Teams

#8 Florida
#25 Georgia Southern
#35 North Florida
#37 Liberty
#51 FGCU
#59 Stetson
#88 South Florida
#93 Penn State
Florida (B)
Florida Atlantic
Jacksonville
Kennesaw State
North Texas
West Virginia

TOURNAMENT NOTEBOOK

This will be the 29th time that UNF will be competing in Gainesville at the Gator Invitational.
Appeared at every Gator Invitational since 1998-99 until this past season.
Have sights set on winning the tournament for the first time in program history.
Best finish at the Gator Invite was the runner-up team in 2012-13.
The Ospreys have finished in the top two in three of their last five events, as well as top five in six of their seven events played in during the 2022-23 season.
Will be the third par-70 course played this season (Northwestern and JU meets), and second par-70 course played in the last three meets.
UNF will have a lineup of a senior, two juniors, a sophomore and a redshirt freshman.
The tournament field consists of 13 teams, as well as Florida's "B" team.
Will compete against five teams from the ASUN (FGCU, Liberty, Stetson, Kennesaw State and Jacksonville).
Also set to face off against two Power Five opponents (Florida and West Virginia).
Four teams are ranked in the top 50 headlined by No. 8 Florida and No. 25 Georgia Southern.
JU and FGCU join UNF in playing both the Sea Best, The Hayt and the Gator Invite tournaments to start the spring.
The event will start on Saturday, Feb. 11, and will conclude the evening of Sunday, Feb. 12.
Two rounds of 36 holes total will be played on the first day, followed by one round of 18 holes on the final day of play.
North Florida will be paired with Florida and Georgia Southern from the first hole at 8 a.m.

FROM THE 19TH HOLE

Nick Gabrelcik earned his fifth top-two finish at a tournament hosted on the First Coast at The Hayt on Monday afternoon. He also grabbed his 10th career ASUN Men's Golfer of the Week after securing his fourth top-two placement of the season.
Robbie Higgins notched a share of fourth overall at The Hayt to make it back-to-back years at The Hayt in the top four. The junior carded 5-under 211 and scored all three rounds under par at the Ospreys' home tournament.
Davis Lee placed in the top 15 for the second time this season after scoring 2-under 214 this past week. The senior had a rough start in the first round but went 4-under combined in the last two rounds to catch up to be tied for 11th.
Cooper Smith had a solid week at the annual home meet to help the Ospreys secure the runner-up team finish in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. He finished inside the top 50 individuals during his first team appearance at The Hayt.
Justin Ross will be making his team debut for the Ospreys at the Gator Invitational this weekend. The redshirt freshman caught some eyes this past week at The Hayt after sharing eighth overall as an unattached individual.

UP NEXT

North Florida takes just over a month off before returning back to action in the General Hackler Championship hosted by Coastal Carolina from Mar. 13-14 in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

COURSE REPORT

ON THE TEE

THE FIELD: 14 Teams

TOURNAMENT NOTEBOOK

FROM THE 19TH HOLE

UP NEXT

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Nick Gabrelcik

Robbie Higgins

Davis Lee

Justin Ross

Cooper Smith

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