Florida Golfer Matt Turner shakes hands with a Virginia player after their round in the NCAA National Championship Semifinal (Photo by: Katie Park - Florida Gators UAA)

Florida Men’s Golf Wins East Lake Cup

The Florida men’s golf team won the East Lake Cup in Atlanta on Oct. 28-29 with a 3-2 win over No. 1 Virginia and a 3-2 win over Ole Miss. This is the Gators’ second straight win this season and their first ever win at East Lake. The Gators won both matches with clutch birdies on the 18th hole by junior Jack Turner against Ole Miss and senior Parker Bell against UVA.

The Gators faced Virginia last season in the NCAA national championship semifinals and lost 3-0.

On day one against Ole Miss, junior Luke Poulter gave the Gators their first point against Ole Miss. Poulter dominated his opponent from the start, shooting 3-under through eight holes. He won the point with a 6 and 4 win.

The Gators took a 2-0 lead with a dominant 5 and 3 win from Bell. Senior Matthew Kress lost a close match 3 and 2 and sophomore Zack Swanwick dropped his round with a 5 and 4 loss, tying the match at two.

Turner won a tight match for the Gators to take the 3-2 win. Turner was back-and-forth going 1-up and 2-up throughout the round. He finished out the match with a birdie to win 2-up and secure a 3-2 Gators win.

Poulter started the Gators off again on day two in a rematch of last year’s NCAA semifinal against No. 1 Virginia. Poulter went down two early but quickly took back the lead going 1-up on the sixth hole. He finished out the round at 2-under par and took the round with a 4 and 3 win.

Kress lost a close second match 2-up, tying the match at one. Swanwick had a back-and-forth round, going down one through four, then tying the round after the sixth hole. He went 1-up through holes seven to nine before going back to a tie. Swanwick finished out the round 2-under to take a 2 and 1 win and a 2-1 match lead.

Bell clinched the win for the Gators in a close final round. Bell went into the 13th hole 4-up but quickly saw the lead fade. His lead went to 1-up on hole 16. Bell closed out the round with two straight birdies to take the round 1-up and secure the win over Virginia. Turner closed out the match for the Gators with a 3 and 1 loss, giving the Gators a 3-2 win over Virginia.

The win was the conclusion of the fall season. The Gators will be back in action on Feb. 2-3 at the Sea Best Invitational.

Category: Gator Sports, Gators Men's Golf, Golf