The University of Florida men’s golf team finished the Carpet Capital Collegiate with a third-round score of 287 (-1) to claim their second top-five finish in as many tournaments this season. The Gators finished tied for fifth with Georgia State after shooting an eight-under 856 over three days at The Farm.

“We didn’t really do anything special today, but we hung in there and managed to put up a pretty good score,” Florida head coach Buddy Alexander said. “We let some teams come back on us a little bit, but there are certainly more positives than negatives that we can take from this weekend. A top-five finish against a field this deep is something to be proud of.”

The low finisher for Florida was sophomore Billy Horschel (Grant, Fla.), who fired an even-par third round to finish tied for sixth with a score of 71-67-72 = 210 (-6). The showing marks Horschel’s second top-10 finish this season, and the 11th of his career. On Sunday, he was able to counter bogeys on holes five and 12 with birdies on 10 and 15, playing the back nine at a one-under clip.

Sophomore Toby Ragland (Jacksonville, Fla.) was the only Gator in red numbers each day of the tournament, posting scores of 71-70-71 = 212 (-4) to finish in a tie for 11th place. After birdying the first two holes of the day on Sunday, he played par golf, save for a bogey on 10, the rest of the way. Ragland’s four-under score gives him his fourth career tournament at par or better, while representing the first time he has been below par in each round of an event.

Junior Manuel Villegas (Medellin, Colombia) turned in his second-consecutive round at par or better, and the third in his last four rounds, with an 18-hole score of 70 (-2) on Sunday. His final score of 73-69-70 = 212 (-4) tied him with Ragland and six others for 11th place. The highlight of his round was an eagle on the par-five 12th, and he also managed to roll in four birdies on the day. Through the first two tournaments of the year, Villegas leads the team with 22 birdies.

After shooting a career-low 73 on Saturday, sophomore Will Strickler (Charlottesville, Va.) rounded out the Gators’ lineup on Sunday with a two-over 74. His total of 78-73-74 = 225 (+9) tied him for 65th place, a four-spot improvement from where he began the round.

“We’re young and a little inexperienced, so we’re trying to see where we’re at right now,” Alexander said. “Toby stepped up for us today, and Manny had a good round, as well. We’ll get back home and do some qualifying to make sure we’re ready for the next tournament.”

The Gators will be in action again from Oct. 2-4, when they travel to Williamsburg, Va., for the NCAA Preview Invitational, hosted by VCU at the Golden Horseshoe Golf Club

Final Team Scores

Final Individual Top-10

Final Florida Results

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