Golf: Gators Win 2023 SEC Championship
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. - A drama-filled finals rematch resulted in the Florida men's golf team being crowned the 2023 SEC Champions on Sunday at Sea Island Golf Club.
The match came all the way down to the 18th hole. It was last year's hero that had another memorable moment on 18-green.
After John DuBois fired his approach shot right of the green and on the fringe, his opponent Reid Davenport landed in front of the green. Both were exactly 26 feet from the hole. DuBois added to the intensity of the finals as he brought the match all tied up on 16 after being down as many as 3-up on three occasions, including being three behind with seven holes left.
He knocked his third shot 15 feet of the cup. Last year's SEC Individual Champion, was clutch in the moment again and nailed the par putt for the eventual match clinching point as his opponent missed his to force extra holes.
Florida grabbed two early points with 5&4 wins from Matthew Kress and Ricky Castillo. Kress, who was a name to know this week, finished undefeated in his postseason debut and placed T19 in stroke play with final two rounds of 67 (-3) and 69 (-1).
Vandy followed with a quick 5&3 victory to make it 2-1. The remaining two matches were tied and the Commodores were 1-up. As DuBois and Davenport walked to their third shots, the attention turned to 17. Fred Biondi who was paired up against last year's National Champion, Gordon Sargent, tied his match with a crucial birdie on the par-3 after he was 1 down with two holes left. The two were in the fairway as Biondi watched his fellow senior clinch it.
The victory marks the first conference title for head coach J.C. Deacon and 16th all-time with the last being in 2011. UF has won a total of 260 SEC Championships across all sports and fifth this academic year; gymnastics, men's and women's swimming and volleyball. It is the fifth win this season, marking the 20th under Deacon and the ninth in the last three seasons. This is the sixth season with multiple wins with him at the helm as the most under him was six in 2016-17. Since 1965, Florida has won 165 team tournament titles.
With the win, Florida has earned an automatic qualification to the NCAA Regionals scheduled for May 15-17. The location where the Gators are headed to will be announced on May 3rd with the selection show airing live on Golf Channel.
