TOURNEY TIDBITS: 2023 The Hayt

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida men's golf looks to defend its home course when the Ospreys play in The Hayt from Feb. 5-6 at Sawgrass Country Club in Jacksonville, Fla.

The Ospreys won the event last year for the first time since 2017 after having Nick Gabrelcik share the medalist crown and Robbie Higgins place as the individual runner-up. UNF will enter their home tournament coming off their spring opener just this past week at the Sea Best Invitational, where they placed as the team runner-up.

COURSE REPORT

Sawgrass Country Club (Jacksonville, Fla.)
Par 72 | 6,966 Yards
54 holes (Three rounds of 18 holes)

ON THE TEE

Nick Gabrelcik (69.06)
Robbie Higgins (70.22)
Davis Lee (72.22)
Cooper Smith (71.67)
Cody Carroll (72.44)

Ind. Alejandro Ramos (N/A)
Ind. Grant Sutliff (N/A)
Ind. Jason Duff (72.67)
Ind. Justin Ross (N/A)
Ind. Lance Yates (73.50)

THE FIELD: 14 Teams

#2 Vanderbilt
#17 Alabama
#39 Arkansas
#42 North Florida
#58 Furman
#60 FGCU
#63 UT-Chattanooga
#86 UCF
Coastal Carolina
Jacksonville
Jacksonville State
Louisiana Tech
North Texas
UAB

TOURNAMENT NOTEBOOK

This will be the 31st edition of The Hayt tournament at UNF will be hosting at Sawgrass Country Club.
The Ospreys have won their home tournament five different times, including last season's one-stroke win over Charlotte.
Four of the five players from last year's winning team will be competing this season.
They are tied for Florida with the most team titles at The Hayt since its conception in 1992.
In the past four tournaments on the First Coast, the Ospreys have placed among the top three teams all four times.
The Ospreys have finished in the top five in five of their six tournaments played in during the 2022-23 season.
They also continue their stretch of three straight events played in Florida to start the spring slate.
It will be their first par-72 course played since the Isleworth Collegiate, as the Hawaii and JU meets were par-71 and par-70 respectively.
UNF has six medalist crown winners over the past 30 seasons of The Hayt with Gabrelcik being the most recent with back-to-back individual titles in 2021 and 2022.
Gabrelcik will be looking for his eighth career first-place finish, as well as his third top finish at The Hayt and fifth medalist crown in events hosted on the First Coast.
Higgins led for most of The Hayt last season and clinched the team title with a clutch chip to set up a tap-in par for the win.
Cody Carroll and Davis Lee will also be returning to compete in The Hayt after placing among the top 30 individuals last year.
UNF will use the same lineup as last week with a graduate, a senior, two juniors and a sophomore.
They will also be playing five unattached individuals that will not be counted towards the team's score.
The tournament field consists of 14 teams with seven teams returning from last season's meet.
Florida Gulf Coast is the only returning team that placed among the top eight teams last year, as they finished third overall at 4-over.
Eight teams are ranked among the top 100 teams on Golfstat, including No. 2 Vanderbilt and four other squads in the top 50.
Gordon Sargent, who won the individual NCAA Championship in 2022, is ranked No. 1 overall by both Golfweek and Golfstat.
Gabrelcik joins the Vanderbilt product as the only two players ranked in the top 10 by Golfstat.
FGCU, Jacksonville and Jacksonville State are the only other teams that will be representing the ASUN at The Hayt this season.
JU and FGCU are also the only teams from last week's Sea Best that will also be competing at The Hayt this week.
The event will start on Sunday, Feb. 5, and will conclude the evening of Monday, Feb. 6.
Two rounds of 36 holes total will be played on the first day with a modified shotgun format, followed by one round of 18 holes on the final day of play starting on the first and 10th holes.
UNF will be paired with No. 2 Vanderbilt, No. 17 Alabama and No. 39 Arkansas through the first and second rounds of play teeing off at the first hole starting at 7:45 a.m.

FROM THE 19TH HOLE

Gabrelcik returned to form at the Sea Best Invite with yet another top-10 finish to add to his resume for the season. He'll have his sights set on winning his third consecutive individual title at The Hayt and his fifth medalist crown at events hosted on the First Coast.
Higgins shared ninth overall with Gabrelcik at the Sea Best after totaling the second-most birdies in the field with 13 total. After placing as the runner-up at The Hayt last year, the junior looks to hit paydirt this time, as well as help his team to back-to-back wins on their home course.
Lee placed inside the top 30 individuals for the third time on the year with his best score coming in the second round at 2-under 68. The senior will be competing in a third consecutive time at The Hayt with it being his second season as a part of the team score.
Cooper Smith played his second time with the team last week with a score of 9-over 219. This will be the first time in his career that he will be in The Hayt as a part of the team's starting lineup.
Carroll had a great first round to open the spring season and now has three of his past six rounds scoring in the 60s. The fifth-year graduate will be playing his fourth and final time at The Hayt with all four times being on the team score.
Jason Duff and Lance Yates will both be competing as unattached individuals, as Duff plays in his second tournament of the spring and Yates makes his spring debut after playing four events in the fall.
Grant Sutliff will be making his season debut joining Duff and Yates as an unattached individual, while Alejandro Ramos and Justin Ross make their career debuts as individuals for the Ospreys as well.

UP NEXT

North Florida will compete in their third consecutive tournament inside the state of Florida when they head southwest to play in the Gator Invitational hosted by Florida from Feb. 11-12 in Gainesville, Fla.

COURSE REPORT

ON THE TEE

THE FIELD: 14 Teams

TOURNAMENT NOTEBOOK

FROM THE 19TH HOLE

UP NEXT

Players Mentioned

Cody Carroll

Jason Duff

Nick Gabrelcik

Robbie Higgins

Davis Lee

Alejandro Ramos

Justin Ross

Cooper Smith

Grant Sutliff

Lance Yates

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