The University of Florida men’s golf team had a challenging final day of competition in the 2005 Southeastern Conference Men’s Golf Championships at the Sea Island Golf Club. The Gators finished the SEC Championships in fourth-place with a 48-over par total score of 888, 13 strokes back of Kentucky that claimed the event for the first time in school history.

“It’s disappointing when you don’t perform well on the final day of a tournament, especially when it’s the SEC Championships,” Head Coach Buddy Alexander said. “It’s definitely tough to take, but I told our team that the day is ruined but the season isn’t. There are still goals that this team can accomplish and we’ll come back and work hard to give ourselves a chance of accomplishing them.”

Leading the Gators was Brett Stegmaier (Madison, Conn.) as he carded rounds of 75-70-72=217 (+7) to finish tied for fourth-place. The fourth-place effort by Stegmaier marks the second career top-five finish at the SEC Championships for the junior as he won the 2003 SEC Individual title as a freshman. Stegmaier has recorded five top-10 finishes in seven tournaments this spring and has shaved over two strokes off his average from the end of the fall season till now.

Finishing in the top-10 at the SEC Championships for the second time in his career, junior Matt Every (Daytona Beach, Fla.) recorded rounds of 71-74-75=220 (+10) to finish tied for 10th-place. The 10th-place finish gives Every six top-10 finishes this season and has moved him into a tie with current UF assistant coach Josh McCumber with 16 top-10 finishes in his career, eighth-most since accurate records began being kept in 1987.

Junior James Vargas (Miami, Fla.) notched rounds of 72-73-80=225 (+15) to finish tied for 22nd-place. The three-day effort by Vargas earned him his best career finish at the SEC Championships, as he tied for 24th-place overall in his freshman season.

Shooting rounds of 76-75-76=227 (+17), redshirt senior Richard Treis (Baden-Baden, Germany) got his first taste of postseason play since the 2003 season when he won the 2003 Atlantic Coast Conference’s Individual crown as a member of the North Carolina squad. Treis, who was injured in the 2003 ACC Championships and missed almost all of 2004 with an injury, finished tied for 31st-place in his only trip to the SEC Championships.

Junior Ryan Cochran (Paducah, Ky.) played to rounds of 76-80-79=235 (+25) to finish tied for 48th-place in his first trip to the SEC Championships.

The Gators will have nearly a month to prepare for the NCAA Regional Golf Championships that will take place May 19-21, in Nashville, Tenn. at the Golf Club of Tennessee.

Team Results:

Florida Results:

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