Senior Bank Vongvanij (Bradenton, Fla.) shot four under par to lead the Florida men’s golf team to a first-place finish after the first round of the NCAA Regional Tournament in Ocala, Fla. on Thursday.

Vongvanij made five birdies and one bogey on the day to finish in a tie for fourth place, only two strokes behind leader Jack Dukeminier of Oregon.

The Gators played without sophomore Tyler McCumber (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.), the No. 4 player in the lineup, after he injured his finger earlier in the month.

Sophomore Phillip Choi (Orlando, Fla.) finished one stroke behind Vongvanij with a score of 69 in eighth place after making six birdies and three bogeys on the day.

Redshirt senior Andres Echavarria (Medellin, Colombia) shot a 71 to finish in a tie for 11^th.

“We had a really solid day,” Florida head coach Buddy Alexander said. “As I said earlier in the week, this has been a nervous week and today was a particular nervous day with Tyler out and Echavarria sick. I really wasn’t sure what to expect, but I thought we played solidly and I am happy with our start.”

Sophomore Tommy Mou (Bradenton, Fla.) and junior Michael Furci (Sayville, N.Y.) both shot a 74 and finished in a tie for 43^rd.

Today’s round marks the sixth time this season the Gators have led after the first round. As a result, they won the Olympia Fields Invitational, the JU Invitational, the Gator Invitational and the SEC Championship and finished second at the Jerry Pate Invitational.

“We still have a lot of golf left to play,” Alexander said. “We need to go out tomorrow and play like we did today.”

Florida will tee off at 8 a.m. to begin round two on Friday. Please check back to www.GatorZone.com for updates and follow www.golfstat.com for live scoring.

Team Results After Round One    

Top 10 Individual Results After Round One

 Florida Results