Freshman Toby Ragland (Jacksonville, Fla.) made a hole-in-one on the third hole of the Seaside Course at the Sea Island Resort to spark a six-stroke turnaround for Florida Men’s Golf team at the SEC Tournament on Saturday.  The Gators moved into second-place with a team score of 285-274 = 559 (-1) and trail Georgia by one stroke heading into the final round.

Ragland turned his fortunes around early on Saturday by acing the par-three No. 3 hole. He then went on to birdie two more holes to match his career-best score of 67 (-3). Combined with a first round score of 76, Ragland finds himself in a tie for 18th-place with a score of 143 (+3).

Fellow freshman Billy Horschel (Grant, Fla.) also had a solid day carding a 68 (-2) for the fourth time this season. Horschel collected five birdies to move into a tie for 14th-place with a two-round total of 142 (+2).   

“The freshman really stepped up for us after a little disappointing day,” Florida head coach Buddy Alexander said. “I still don’t think we’re putting as well as we could, but hopefully tomorrow will be a better day, put together a few more putts and finish this thing off.”

Florida had a strong day overall with all five players carding scores at or below par. Senior Brett Stegmaier (Madison, Conn.) continues to lead the team by carding 70 (-2) on Saturday for a total of 138 (-2). Stegmaier quickly went two-under on the front-nine with birdies on the sixth and seventh holes, but bogies on No. 14 and No. 16 moved him out of the lead.  Stegmaier remained in a tie for second and will seek his second SEC Tournament individual medal title during the final round on Sunday. 

Senior Matt Every (Daytona Beach, Fla.) carded consecutive rounds of 70 (E) to remain in a tie for fifth with a two-round total of 140. Senior James Vargas (Miami, Fla.) continued his steady play by carding a 69 (-1) to complete the Gators scoring.

Georgia continues to lead the tournament with a team score of 558 (-2) but saw its nine-stroke lead dwindle to only one. Alabama’s Matthew Swan carded a 67 (-3) during the second round and moved into the lead of the 60-player field.

The SEC Tournament will conclude on Sunday with the final round scheduled to tee-off at 8 a.m. Live stats can be found at www.golfstat.com.

Team Results

Top-10 Individuals

Florida Results

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