University of Florida golf coach J.C. Deacon watches his ball sail down the 10th fairway of the Sea Island Club Seaside Course during the second round of the Henry Tuten Gator Bowl Pro-Am. [Gary Smits/The Florida Times-Union]

Florida Men’s Golf Begins SEC Tournament Play

Gators men’s golf looks to repeat as SEC Champion for the first time since 1993-94 as the conference tournament begins today at Sea Island Golf Club in St. Simons Island, Ga.

The reigning conference champions teed off at 8 a.m. paired with Arkansas, Auburn and Texas for the opening round in the tourney that runs through Sunday.

Florida is looking to break its tie with LSU for second all-time in conference championships at 17.

In match play at the SEC Championship, Florida is 10-4 all-time with victories against Auburn (2025), Georgia (2022), Oklahoma (2026), Ole Miss (2018, 2023), South Carolina (2017), Texas A&M (2022, 2023, 2025) and Vanderbilt (2023).

In 2025, the Gators won their second conference title in the last three seasons, with the other coming in 2023. Last year, Florida conquered a gauntlet of No. 6 ranked Oklahoma, the No. 1 seed and No. 2 ranked and the then reigning SEC and National Champion Auburn Tigers and finally Texas A&M in the championship.

COMPETING TEAMS (NCAA Rankings as of April 20 )

No. 17 Alabama, No. 5 Arkansas, No. 1 Auburn, No. 4 Florida, No. 25 Georgia, No. 54 Kentucky, No. 8 LSU, No. 41 Mississippi State, No. 89 Missouri, No. 16 Oklahoma, No. 12 Ole Miss, No. 39 South Carolina, No. 14 Tennessee, No. 3 Texas, No. 30 Texas A&M and No. 11 Vanderbilt.

Earlier this month, Florida captured its fifth tournament victory of the regular season in its season finale at the Calusa Cup. The Gators finished with a 54-hole score of 842 (-22) for their second-lowest score by par this season on their way to a four-shot victory against No. 2 Virginia. Jack Turner led the Gators as he finished T4 at 7-under with Parker Sands right behind him, tying a career-best finish at 6-under and T7.

The tournament title is the 37th all-time under coach J.C. Deacon and eighth season of multiple wins, including the last six consecutive. It is also the 22nd win in the last four seasons, meaning the Gators have won 22 out of their last 47 tournaments, good for 46.8%. It is the fourth straight season of five-plus tournament wins, the first time in program history.

Following the conference tournament, Florida begins NCAA Regionals from May 18-20 as it will find its regional selection May 6 at 2 p.m. live on Golf Channel. The six predetermined regional sites are:

Athens, Georgia | University of Georgia Golf Course
Bermuda Run, North Carolina | Bermuda Run Country Club
Bryan, Texas | Traditions Club
Columbus, Ohio | OSU Golf Club
Corvallis, Oregon | Trysting Tree Golf Club
Maricopa, Arizona | Chin Southern Dunes

Category: Gator Sports, Gators Men's Golf