UF Men’s Golf Heads To Vegas For Southern Highlands Collegiate

Tournament Info:

Dates: Sunday-Tuesday 
Host: UNLV
Course: 72 / 7,510 yards 
Format: 18 holes each day 
Scoring: Clippd

The No. 11 Florida men’s golf team heads to Las Vegas this weekend for the Southern Highlands Collegiate, the first of three remaining tournaments this regular season.

The Gators finished fourth last year in the tournament (+4). Senior Ian Gilligan was the individual champion, shooting -8. He was the fourth Gator to win in Florida’s 21 appearances and looks to defend his title and earn UF its third straight individual win at the Southern Highlands Collegiate.

Last Outing

Florida pushed through heavy rain and winds to sweep the 48th Gators Invitational at Mark Bostick Golf Course. It was a shootout, with Florida (-17) narrowly outscoring second-place No. 7 Oklahoma State (-16).

taking home the hardware pic.twitter.com/GAWxDITVV2

— Gators Golf (@GatorsGolf) February 16, 2025

Gilligan closed the door with a par on hole 18 to secure the tournament for the Gators.

His day wasn’t finished after regular-tournament play. Gilligan finished the tournament shooting an 8-under 202, tied for first in the individual leaderboard with Charlotte golfer Justin Matthews. A playoff ensued to determine a champion. It took Gilligan two holes to get it done.

Sophomore Luke Poulter had his best tournament of his collegiate career, shooting 207 (-3). He earned himself another start and looks to stay hot.

"He's got the swagger"#GoGators pic.twitter.com/PNDTukGLWA

— Gators Golf (@GatorsGolf) February 25, 2025

It was Florida’s sixth consecutive Gators Invitational win.

Gilligan and the Gators look to make it back-to-back tournament wins.

What To Expect

Expect a more difficult path to success for Florida than its last tournament. Nine top-25 teams and 13 top-50 were invited to the stroke-play tournament. A much harder array of golfers Florida is facing compared to its last tournament.

Competing schools: No. 2 Auburn, No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 9 Virginia, No. 11 Florida, No. 12 Illinois, No. 16 Georgia Tech, No. 18 SMU, No. 22 San Diego State, No. 24 Pepperdine, No. 26 Texas A&M, No. 30 Georgia, No. 31 UNLV, New Mexico, USC and Washington.

Host school University of Nevada, Las Vegas showcases a par 72, 7,510 yard course. It’s two strokes and 500 yards more than Florida’s Mark Bostick. Expect higher final scores compared to the Gators’ 17-under-par finish at the Gators Invitational.

Also expect a slightly different lineup from last tournament. UF coach J.C. Deacon joined Sean Kelly on Thursday in the latest episode of Kelly’s radio show “Gator Talks”, speaking on the roster:

“This week it is gong to be Zack Swanwick — freshman from New Zealand — and Rylan Shim — redshirt freshman from Centerville, Virginia. They’ll fill those two spots and they earned it in through our team qualifying this week. They played unbelievable golf … exciting to have some young guys in there. Rylan played a big-time round for us in the final round to win the Gators Invitational a couple weeks ago so, he’s showing some serious potential, so we’ll see.”

Tee times are to be announced, but expect an early start.

Lineup

1 – Ian Gilligan
2 – Jack Turner
3 – Luke Poulter
4 – Rylan Shim
5 – Zack Swanwick 
Individual – Matthew Kress