The No. 8 University of Florida men’s golf team wrapped up day one of the NCAA Southwest Regional in third place, shooting nine-over par 293, at the University of Texas Golf Club in Austin. Seniors Billy Horschel (Grant, Fla.) and Will Strickler (Charlottesville, Va.) led the team with one-over par rounds of 72.

“This was another typical day for us,” said head coach Buddy Alexander. “We got off to a bad start and then we battled back. I’m proud of the way our guys have fought all year and this was just another example of them sticking in there.”

The Texas Tech Red Raiders jumped out to a two-under par score of 282, having a pair of players shoot under par. Texas’ Lance Lopez, playing on his home course, shot three-under par 68 and is tied with Lamar’s Hugues Joannes on top of the individual leader board.

Strickler opened with a birdie on the first hole, but made three bogeys and was two-over through eight holes. After carding three birdies in his next five holes, he was at one-under par for the round. Back-to-back bogeys on holes 15 and 16 put him at one-over for the day. Horschel mixed three birdies with two bogeys and a double-bogey for his round. Both golfers are tied for ninth.

Senior Toby Ragland (Jacksonville, Fla.) struggled through his first nine holes, making the turn at four-over par, but made birdies on No. 11 and 14. A bogey on the 18th put him at three-over 74 for the day, tied for 18th. Junior Tyson Alexander (Gainesville, Fla.) rounded out the scoring with a four-over 75. He made par on his last eight holes and is tied for 24th heading into the second round. Junior Tim McKenney (Scottsdale, Ariz.) shot five-over 76 and is tied for 31st.

“We came into the tournament wanting to put ourselves in a position to win,” said Coach Alexander. “If we actually get off to a good start, we could have some really good things happen.”

The Gators will tee off on Friday at 9:40 a.m. central time. Live hole-by-hole scoring will be available online at www.golfstat.com. At the conclusion of the day’s round, results will be posted online at www.gatorzone.com.

TEAM RESULTS

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

FLORIDA RESULTS

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