Stegmaier Leads M. Golf Team At The SEC Tournament

Friday, April 21

Sea Island, GA

12:00 AM

Florida Gators

SEC Championships - Day1

Stegmaier Leads M. Golf Team At The SEC Tournament

Friday, April 21, 2006 | Men's Golf

No. 3 Florida recorded a team score of 285 (+5) on the first day of the SEC Golf Tournament at the Sea Side Golf Course on Friday. The Gators find themselves in third-place and nine strokes behind the leader Georgia, who recorded a four-under-par score of 276 on the par-70 course.

Senior Brett Stegmaier (Madison, Conn.) carded a first-round score of 68 (-2) to finish the day in a tie for second. Stegmaier, who won the SEC Tournament during his freshman season in 2002, captured a pair of birdies on the front and back-nine to lead the team.

“He (Stegmaier) has played well all spring, so it wasn't a surprise that he did well today,” Florida coach Buddy Alexander said. “Brett played a smart round of golf today, kept the ball in the fairway and made his putts.”

Senior Matt Every (Daytona Beach, Fla.) also had a strong day shooting an even-par 70 for the round. Every went into the back-nine three-over-par, but birdied three of the final six holes to finish the day tied for ninth. A double bogey on the par-four 16th hole lifted senior James Vargas (Miami, Fla.) to three-over-par for the day. Vargas finished the day with a 73 (+3) and is tied for 31st. Freshman Billy Horschel (Grant, Fla.) got his first taste of SEC Tournament action and shot a 74 (+4) to finish the day in a tie for 39th. Freshman Toby Ragland (Jacksonville, Fla.) rounded out the Gator lineup by carding a 76 (+6), which was good for a share of 48th-place

“We didn't see the typical Sea Side Course, because the wind didn't blow as hard as it usually does and the greens were a bit softer,” Alexander said. “Basically we didn't take advantage of it. I've said all week long that somebody is going to play well in this tournament and today it wasn't us. We have to cash in on our birdie opportunities tomorrow.”

Georgia's Brian Harman leads the field of 60 players after recording a 67 (-2) on the first day. The tournament will resume on Saturday with tee-times beginning at 8 a.m. Fans can follow the action live on www.golfstat.com.

Team Results

Place	School	Score	Par
1.	Georgia	276	-4
2.	Alabama	280	E
3.	Florida	285	+5
4.	Tennessee	286	+6
5.	LSU	288	+8
6.	Auburn	289	+9
T7.	Mississippi	290	+10
T7.	Vanderbilt	290	+10
T9.	South Carolina	292	+12
T9.	Kentucky	292	+12
11.	Arkansas	295	+15
12.	Mississippi State	305	+25

Top-10 Individuals

Place	Name	School	Score	Par
1.	Brian Harman	Georgia	67	-3
T2.	Chris Kirk	Georgia	68	-2
T2.	Luke List	Vanderbilt	68	-2
T2.	Brett Stegmaier	Florida	68	-2
T2.	Matthew Swan	Alabama	68	-2
T6.	Kevin Kisner	Georgia	69	-1
T6.	Andrew Lanahan	LSU	69	-1
T6.	Tino Weiss	Tennessee	69	-1
T9.	Kyle Ellis	Mississippi	70	E
T9.	Matt Every	Florida	70	E
T9.	Joseph Sykora	Alabama	70	E
T9.	Tyler Wilson	Kentucky	70	E