Gilligan Wins First Golf Tournament As Gator

Florida men’s golf team transfer Ian Gilligan won his first tournament Tuesday in the Orange and Blue.

The Gators finished fourth in the Southern Highlands Collegiate in Las Vegas, but Gilligan’s 208 (-8) score landed him atop of the leaderboard and an exemption into the PGA Tour’s Shriners Children’s Open in October.

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Back To Back

Gilligan’s victory marked back-to-back medalist honors at the tournament by a Gator following Yuxin Lin’s win was last year. Lin also transferred into UF and the Southern Highlands Collegiate win was his first as a Gator. He was able to win the tournament with a score of 203 (-13).

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Homecoming

Gilligan is from Reno, Nevada, just seven hours from where the Southern Highlands Collegiate took place. His homecoming victory continues a hot start in the spring, when he has had nine consecutive rounds of par or better. He also has had eight straight under-par rounds and finishes of 2-3-1. Through the first three spring tournaments he owns a stroke average of 69.3 and a match play victory.

The individual victory is the 23rd under coach J.C. Deacon. Gilligan joins Matthew Kress as the only two Gators to have achieved individual wins on the year. Kress found his first collegiate win in the fall at the Georgetown Intercollegiate.

Team Finish

Mathew Kress was the next best Gator finish behind Gilligan at tied for 29. Two shots behind Kress was Tyler Wilkes at tied for 34. The pair of Parker Bell and Luke Poulter both finished tied for 46th, followed by individual John DuBois at tied for 68.

The fourth-place finish marks the team’s fifth top-5 finish of the season.bThey ended with a team score of 868 (+4).

Up Next

Florida has the next two weeks off before returning to action at the Schenkel Invitational at Forest Heights in Statesboro, Ga., from March 15-17. After that will be the regular-season finale at the Calusa Cup in Naples, Fl., from April 7-9.