The No. 7 Florida men’s golf team fired a tournament-best 14-under par second round at the 2005 NCAA East Regional Golf Tournament, to move into second-place with an 11-under par total score of 557. The Gators trail Wake Forest by only three strokes entering the final round of play that is scheduled for tomorrow at The Golf Club of Tennessee.

Florida’s stellar second round comeback gave the Gators their best competitive round of the season in relation to both score and par, however the 14-under par score of 270 tied for the fifth-best round since 1981-82 in relation to par and the seventh-best round when classified only by the score. 

“Today was a very good day,” Head Coach Buddy Alexander said. “We had two guys account for a terrific day, while the other three guys played reasonably well. I think we’ve conceivably placed ourselves in a position to win the tournament, which will be our goal tomorrow.”

Junior Matt Every (Daytona Beach, Fla.) fired a career-best eight-under par 63 to storm into third-place overall and move to eight-under par for the tournament. Every, fired the best round by a Gator this season and the best round by a Florida golfer since Camilo Villegas fired a 62 on May 8, 2003 at the Atlanta Intercollegiate. The historic round by Every became the third-best round since 1981-82 in terms of score and tied for third-best at eight-under in relation to par. Every now owns the second-best round in terms of score by a UF junior since 1981-82.

“Matt hit a bunch of quality shots today,” Alexander said. “He made a couple great putts and really played his best golf today.”

Matching his career and season-best round of 65, junior James Vargas (Miami, Fla.) moved to six-under par with a total score of 136. Vargas had his best stuff as he traversed the 6,864-yard course without a bogey.

It is the first time since Feb. 13, 1999, that two Gators fired rounds of 65 or better in the same tournament round. The last UF duo to record rounds of 65 or better in the same round was Steve Scott and Taylor Walsh as they opened the 1999 Gator Invitational with scores of 63 and 65 respectively.

Redshirt senior Richard Treis (Baden-Baden, Germany) had a strong second round as he notched a one-under par score of 70. The second round effort by Treis moved him to two-over par for the tournament and gives him a two-round total of 144.

Junior Brett Stegmaier (Madison, Conn.) duplicated his one-over par opening round score of 72 in the second round to give him a two-over par tournament total of 144.

Having a steady tournament, redshirt senior Duke Butler (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) carded a three-over par score of 74 in the second round to go with his opening two-over par effort of 73. For the tournament Butler is five-over par and on pace to have his best tournament of the season.

The 2005 NCAA East Regional Tournament concludes tomorrow with the final 18 holes at The Golf Club of Tennessee. The top 10 teams from each of the three competing regions will advance to the 2005 NCAA Championships at the Caves Valley Country Club in Baltimore, Md. on May 31-June 3.

Team Results:

Florida Results:

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