Gators Men’s Golf Closes Out Regular Season With Win

The No.12 Gators returned with a win at the Calusa Cup, closing their regular season and putting their sights on the SEC Championship.

Team Scoring

After a final-round score of 17-under, the Gators defended their title in the regular-season closer. The Gators shot a round tied for third in all-time program history by par and claimed their third victory this season.

This is the third consecutive year UF has won its final event (2024 Calusa Cup & 2023 Augusta Hakskins Award Invite).

Florida went into Day 3 five shots behind Louisville, which it beat by one stroke, as the Cardinals finished 16-under.

Florida beat No. 10 UCLA by 17 strokes, No.4 LSU by 35 and No.8 Virginia by 48.

This win is the 30th tournament title under coach J.C Deacon in his 11 seasons. This is the third straight season of 3+ wins and the seventh season of multiple wins, with the last five were consecutive.

No better way to close out the regular season 🏆🐊

✅ 3rd win of the season
✅ Title defended at Calusa
✅ Win No. 30 for @realjcdeacon
✅ Tied 3rd all-time round by par with a -17 https://t.co/7PyU7JMer4

— Gators Golf (@GatorsGolf) April 8, 2025

Individual Scores

All five golfers shot under par in the last 18 holes. Leading the charge was Ian Gilligan and Jack Turner with 67s (-5), tying for 3rd and finishing 4-under overall.

Gilligan shot his season’s fourth and career 14th total top-3 finish. Turner had a season-best finish since he was a runner-up at the SEC Championship last year. At both of his Calusa cup appearances, Turner has finished T3 and 3rd.

Luke Poulter ended in 6th place with a final round of 68 (-4), 3-under for the overall tournament.

Matthew Kress shot a 69 (-3), coming back from his opening round of 78 and launching himself to T16.

Freshman Zack Swanwick had a 71 (-1) to close out his ninth tournament and fifth appearance in the lineup. He concluded the tournament with his season-best finish with a tie for 7th.

Up Next

The Gators head to the Sea Island Golf Club: Seaside Course in St. Simons Island, Ga. to participate in the SEC Championship.

The field will consist of many NCAA Top-15 teams like Auburn, Texas, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, LSU and Alabama.

Following the tournament, the Gators will learn its NCAA Regional selection on April 30.