The No. 4 Florida Men’s Golf team opened the 2006 spring season by finishing seventh at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate on Tuesday. The Gators recorded a team score of 320+289+305 = 914 (+50) and finished 18 strokes behind tournament winner UCLA.

After battling inconsistency during the fall, senior Brett Stegmaier (Madison, Conn.) responded with a steady performance during the tournament. Stegmaier moved up seven positions on the leader board to earn his first top-10 finish of the season. He recorded scores of 78+72+74 = 224 (+8), which was good enough to finish tied for eighth.

Stegmaier is no stranger to success at the Sawgrass C.C. In four appearances at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate, he has recorded a top-10 finish three times. His best performance came last year when he tied for sixth-place.   

“He did this last year,” Florida coach Buddy Alexander said. “He had a tough fall and came back strong in the spring, so I hope we’re on the same trail. It’s nice to see him play decent.”

A trio of Gator golfers finished the three-round tournament with a score of 230 (+14). In his return home, freshman Toby Ragland (Jacksonville, Fla.) carded a third-round score of 75 (+3) to move into the top-25. Freshman Billy Horschel (Grant, Fla.) and senior Matt Every (Daytona Beach, Fla.) both carded a third round score of 78 (+6) to finish tied for 25th.

Sophomore Manuel Villegas (Medellin, Colombia) held his ground during the third round by carding an 80 (+8) for a second consecutive day and tied for 62nd-place. Playing as an individual, sophomore Jessie Mudd (Louisville, Ky.) improved each day by recording a 78 (+6) on Tuesday.

Florida had a tough start to the day, recording only three birdies on the front-nine. The team rallied with 11 birdies on the back-nine led by Every and Stegmaier with three each.

“We didn’t play very smart, but it was a tough day to play,” Alexander said.  “We had a chance to move up considerably, but it didn’t happen. We’ll do a little regrouping and fix some of the makes we made this week.”

Texas Tech’s Oscar Floren edged UCLA’s Erik Flores to win the individual medal. Floren fired back-to-back rounds of 73 (+1), which was the difference on Tuesday. Flores, who carded a tournament-best 68 on Sunday, carded a 74 in the third round to finish second.   

Florida will return to action on Feb. 18 when it hosts the Gator Invitational at the University Golf Course.

Team Results

Top-10 Individuals

Florida Results

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