The Florida Gators men's golf team represents the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in the sport of

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

. The Gators compete in Division I of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA) and the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC). They play their home matches on the

Mark Bostick Golf Course The Mark Bostick Golf Course at the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, Florida, is the home course of the Florida Gators men's golf and Florida Gators women's golf teams. The course is owned by the university and operated by the Uni ...

on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus, and are currently led by head coach J. C. Deacon. In the eighty-nine-year history of the Gators' men's golf program, they have won fifteen SEC championships and four NCAA national tournament championships.

History

The Gators men's golf program was the fifth intercollegiate sports team established by the University of Florida, having begun competition in 1925. The Gators won their first two Southeastern Conference team championships twenty years later under coach Andrew Bracken in 1955 and coach

Conrad Rehling Conrad may refer to: People * Conrad (name) Places United States * Conrad, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Conrad, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Conrad, Iowa, a city * Conrad, Montana, a city * Conrad Glacier, Washingt ...

in 1956. Those two SEC championship teams produced future PGA Tour members

Doug Sanders George Douglas Sanders (July 24, 1933 – April 12, 2020) was an American professional golfer who won 20 events on the PGA Tour and had four runner-up finishes at major championships. Early years He was born into a poor family in Cedartown, Ge ...

Tommy Aaron Thomas Dean Aaron (born February 22, 1937) is an American former professional golfer who was a member of the PGA Tour during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Aaron is best known for winning the 1973 Masters Tournament. He is also known for an erro ...

and Dave Ragan. Rehling's Gators also produced three back-to-back individual SEC titles: Ragan (1956) and Aaron (1957, 1958).

Bishop era: 1964–78

Physical education professor and former high school football coach Buster Bishop became the new head coach of the Gators golf team in 1964. Improvement came quickly for Bishop's Gators, and they finished as the SEC runners-up in 1965. Gator Bob Murphy won the individual NCAA national title in 1966. And in 1967, the team finished second in the conference behind the

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associat ...

, and second in the nation behind the Houston Cougars at the NCAA championship tournament. The 1968 Gators made history; they not only won the program's third SEC team championship, they won the NCAA championship tournament by edging the defending national champion Houston Cougars by two shots. The Gators' 1968 NCAA men's golf championship, won by John Darr, Steve Melnyk, John Sale, Richard Spears, Robert Baggs and Wendell Coffee, was the first national team championship in any sport ever won by a team from the University of Florida. Bishop's Gators won another NCAA national team championship 1973, with an all-star team of four future PGA Tour members: Gary Koch, Andy Bean, Ben Duncan,

Woody Blackburn Woody T. Blackburn (born July 26, 1951) is an American former professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour in the 1970s and 1980s. Blackburn was born in Pikeville, Kentucky. He attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where ...

and Phil Hancock. The 1973 Gators outpaced the second-place

Oklahoma State Cowboys The Oklahoma State Cowboys and Cowgirls are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Oklahoma State University, located in Stillwater. The program's mascot is a cowboy named Pistol Pete. Oklahoma State participates at the National Col ...

by ten strokes in the NCAA championship tournament. The following year, the Gators finished second by two strokes behind the

Wake Forest Demon Deacons The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Wake Forest University, located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a mem ...

at the 1974 NCAA championship tournament. Bishop's teams also won three back-to-back SEC team championships in 1973, 1974 and 1975. Only once in fifteen seasons did his Gators finish worse than third in the ten-team SEC. Bishop retired from coaching after the 1978 season.

Darr and Blevins: 1979–87

John Darr, a junior letterman from the Gators' 1968 national championship team, followed Bishop as the team's coach in 1979 and 1980. In his two seasons, Darr's Gators finished second and third in the SEC, and fifteenth and tenth nationally at the NCAA championship tournament. Gator golfer Rick Pearson won the individual SEC title in 1980. Lynn Blevins served as the Gators' coach from 1981 to 1987; his teams won an SEC team championship in 1985, and were the SEC runners-up in 1986. Blevins' Gators finished third in the nation at the 1985 NCAA championship tournament, which they hosted on their home course.

Alexander era: 1988–2014

The Gators' current head coach, Buddy Alexander, was hired for the 1988 season. Alexander's 1993 team of Guy Hill, Chris Couch,

Brian Gay Joseph Brian Gay (born December 14, 1971) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions. Early years A military brat, Gay was born in Fort Worth, Texas, but was raised primarily at Fort Rucker, Al ...

, Bread Lehman and John Pettit won another national championship, besting second-place

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Georgia. The teams have also been nicknamed the Ramblin' Wrec ...

by a single shot at the NCAA championship tournament. His 2001 team won the program's fourth NCAA national championship, with Gators Nick Gilliam, Camilo Benedetti,

Bubba Dickerson Benjamin Gordon "Bubba" Dickerson (born May 6, 1981) is an American professional golfer who was previously a PGA Tour member and currently plays on the Nationwide Tour. He is best known for winning the 2001 U.S. Amateur. Dickerson was born in J ...

Camilo Villegas Camilo Villegas (; born 7 January 1982) is a Colombian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. Early years Villegas was born in Medellín, Colombia, and took up golf as a child. After several different National Junior Championships in ...

and Ben Banks dominating the runner-up

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) s ...

by eighteen strokes. Team captain Gilliam also won the second individual NCAA men's golf championship in Gators history in 2001, and teammate Benedetti finished second in the NCAA championship tournament, three strokes behind Gilliam. Alexander's Gators won eight SEC team championships (1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2003, 2011), and finished second in the conference seven times. Nationally, his teams won two NCAA national championships (1993, 2001), and finished second twice (1990, 2006). The Gators have failed to qualify for the NCAA championship tournament only twice in his twenty-six seasons.

Individual honors

In the past fifty-eight years, fifteen Gators golfers have won twenty-one SEC individual titles. Thirty-nine Gators golfers have earned sixty-seven first-team All-SEC honors. Forty-nine Gators have received ninety-three All-American honors.''Florida Gators Men's Golf 2008 Media Guide''
Team History
. Retrieved August 7, 2009. Two Gators have won the individual NCAA national title: Bob Murphy (1966), and Nick Gilliam (2001). Four Gators have won U.S. Amateur Championship: Bob Murphy (1965), Steve Melnyk (1969),

Fred Ridley Fred Scobie Ridley (born August 16, 1952) is an American amateur golfer and golf administrator who won the U.S. Amateur in 1975, was elected president of the United States Golf Association (USGA) in 2004, and then became chairman of Augusta Nat ...

(1975), and Bubba Dickerson (2001). The Gators' former head coach, Buddy Alexander, won the U.S. Amateur in 1986. Melnyk won the

British Amateur The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

in 1971.

PGA Tour professionals

Over thirty former University of Florida alumni have represented the university on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...

, including former Gators golfers

, winner of the 1973 Masters Tournament and two other Tour events,

Mark Calcavecchia Mark John Calcavecchia (born June 12, 1960) is an American professional golfer and a former PGA Tour member. During his professional career, he won 13 PGA Tour events, including the 1989 Open Championship. He plays on the Champions Tour as well a ...

, winner of the 1989 British Open and thirteen other Tour events,

Andy North Andrew Stewart North (born March 9, 1950) is an American professional golfer who had three wins on the PGA Tour, including the U.S. Open twice. Since 1992, he has served as a golf analyst for ESPN. Early years North was born in Thorp, Wisconsin ...

, winner of the 1978 and 1985 U.S. Opens and one other Tour event, and

, winner of twenty Tour events.

Coaching staff

J. C. Deacon is the head coach of the Florida Gators men's golf team; 2014–15 will be his first season with the Gators.GatorZone.com, Golf, Coaching & Support Staff
J. C. Deaon
Retrieved July 9, 2014. Deacon previously served as an assistant golf coach for the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes th ...

(UNLV), where he worked with the

UNLV Rebels The UNLV Rebels are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). The Rebels compete in the NCAA Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision for college football) as a member of the Mountain West Confe ...

men's golf team for four years.

Mark Bostick Golf Course

The Gators men's golf team host its home matches at the

, located on of the university's campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university course was originally designed by noted Scottish golfer and golf course architect Donald Ross in 1921. It was partially redesigned and rebuilt by noted golf architect Bobby Weed as part of a $4 million renovation project in 2001. The renovated course is a 6,701-yard par 70, and the facilities include the Guy Bostick club house and dedicated practice areas for the Gators golf teams. The Mark Bostick Golf Course hosts the annual Gator Invitational, as well as the annual Gator Golf Day alumni event.University of Florida Golf Course
40th Annual Gator Golf Day
Retrieved August 8, 2009.

References

External links

* {{Florida Gators athletic program navbox Sports clubs established in 1925 1925 establishments in Florida