Gators Finish Third, Neale Ties for Second at Sea Best Invitational

Tuesday, February 5

Ponte Vedra Beach, FL

All Day

Florida Gators

Sea Best Invitational

Gators Finish Third, Neale Ties for Second at Sea Best Invitational

Tuesday, February 5, 2019 | Men's Golf

By: Lucy Berres

Ponte Vedra, Fla. – After leading the field for the first two rounds, the Gators fell to third in the final round of the Sea Best Invitational in Jacksonville. An impressive final round and a playoff hole gave senior Gordon Neale the tie for second place.

Neale and sophomore John Axelsen were the only Gators in the starting five to go without a double-bogey in the final round, although Axelsen was in too deep and finished just outside the top 25 at T27 alongside freshman Eugene Hong.

Redshirt freshman Manny Girona was the only other Gator inside the top 25, finishing at T15. Neale stayed under par for the entirety of the tournament but Girona took home the lowest round score, a 67 in his second round.

Coach's Take
"At the end of the day it's our best finish of the year so we have to be happy with that. I know we all wanted to win today but we're not ready yet. We've got to look closely at what held us back and work to get better. When this team starts playing its best golf we are going to be really tough. I'm excited to continue working towards that." – Head Coach JC Deacon

On Neale's performance
"Gordon has a handful of second place finishes in his career so I know he's disappointed. The silver lining is he had this tournament in his control and you have to play great golf to do that. When he's playing his 'A' game, I'll put him up against any player in the country!" - Deacon

Final scores
Teams
Florida State                       840 (E)
North Florida                      843 (+3)
Florida                                  848 (+8)
Liberty                                  851 (+11)
NC State                              854 (+14)
North Carolina                   858 (+18)
Arkansas                              861 (+21)
Campbell                             861 (+21)
East Carolina                      868 (+28)
UNLV                                    870 (+30)
USC Upstate                       871 (+31)
Jacksonville                        874 (+34)
McNeese State                 879 (+39)
Lipscomb                             888 (+48)

Florida Players
T1 Gordon Neale              206 (-4)
T15 Manny Girona           213 (+3)
T27 Eugene Hong             216 (+6)
T27 John Axelsen             216 (+6)
T50 Chris Nido                   221 (+11)

Also Competing
T31 Blake Dyer                 217 (+7)
T63 Robbie Eisch              225 (+15)
T63 Aden Ye                       225 (+15)

Next up
The Gators will be back in action February 16-17 at home at the annual Gator Invite on Mark Bostick Golf Course.