The seventh-ranked University of Florida men’s golf team used the third-lowest team round of the day, a 10-over 298, to move two spots up the leader board on Tuesday at the United States Collegiate Championship.

The Gators will head begin Wednesday’s final round in eighth place – just a dozen strokes in back of tournament-leading Georgia – with a 36-hole tally of 603 (+27), while just five shots separate the third and eighth-place teams on the board. UF’s seven-stroke improvement from day one to day two was the largest in the 15-team field.

“The weather was better today, but the golf course was just as difficult,” Florida head coach Buddy Alexander said. “We played well in relation to the field, as is evident by the fact that the leader board is really congested. We had some guys play solid golf today, and we saw what happens when we play close to our ability.”

Sophomore Toby Ragland (Jacksonville, Fla.) fired an even-par 72 on Tuesday, improving over his first-round score by 11 strokes. He played the front nine at one under after notching a birdie on the first hole, and countered three back-nine bogeys with circled numbers on both 12 and 14. Tuesday’s even-par effort moved Ragland from a tie for 74th to a share of 50th, a jump of 24 spots in one afternoon. The round also yielded Ragland’s 10th score at par or better this season, and his second in Florida’s last three tournaments.

“We made an adjustment to Toby’s swing on the practice tee this morning, which is unusual, but it worked out for the best,” Alexander said. “He was determined to make an improvement over yesterday’s score, and he certainly did that. Toby has shown a knack for coming through with clutch scores when we need them, and he was a real plus for us today.”

Billy Horschel (Grant, Fla.) also had a strong day for the Gators from start to end. He came out of the clubhouse with a birdie on the first hole, and went back in with a birdie on the par-five 18th, mixing in two more birdies in the interim. He finished the day with a two-over 74 on the day, bettering his first-round mark by a stroke. Horschel and freshman Tim McKenney (Scottsdale, Ariz.), who birdied three holes en route to a second-round 77 (+5), will tee off tomorrow as two parts of an 10-way tie for 12th place. The duo is just five shots off the lead shared by Clemson’s Tanner Ervin and Wake Forest’s Webb Simpson, who both own even-par scores of 144.

Birdies on the eighth and 10th holes were all junior Tyler Brown (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) needed to produce a three-over 75 in the second round, recording 11 pars along the way. Brown’s second-round effort was a two-stroke improvement over his score from the tournament’s first 18 holes. Junior Manuel Villegas (Medellin, Colombia) battled his way to an eight-over 80 on the day, but birdied the par-five 18th to finish on a strong note.

“It’s certainly an ebb and flow,” Alexander said. “We haven’t seen some of things we wanted to this week, but there are moments when we really dig in and show what we’ve got. If we can stay away from double and triple-bogeys, we have a chance to turn in a solid finish tomorrow. So far, we haven’t done that as well as I’d hoped. Golf is a funny game, though, and tomorrow could be the day it happens for us.”

Competition will resume at the Golf Club of Georgia at 9 a.m. EST on Wednesday. Live scoring is available at www.golfstat.com, and can be accessed via www.gatorzone.com.

Team Scores Through Round Two

Individual Top-10 Through Round Two

Florida Results Through Round Two

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