Florida Men’s Golf Takes Down Auburn, Advances To SEC Championship Finals

The Florida men’s golf team is going to the SEC Championship finals after fending off the Auburn Tigers, the NCAA No. 2 team and reigning SEC champions, in the semifinals Saturday at Sea Island Golf Club in St. Simons Island, Ga.

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The No. 5 seed Gators took down No. 4 seed Oklahoma 3-2 earlier in the day in the quarterfinals to advance to the semis for just the fifth time in program history. Zack Swanswick, Ian Gilligan and Luke Poulter were the three scorers for Florida. Swanswick showed out in his playoff debut to win his match at 3&2 against Ryder Cowan.

Florida advances to the match play finals for the third time in program history since the format was added in 2017. That’s tied second for most appearances with, guess who —Auburn. The Gators have made it to the finals twice in the last three years. Florida’s last appearance was a championship victory in 2023.

Match Play

In the semis, Swanwick made quick work of his competition. He went 6 & 4, which began with a 3Up lead through the first three holes. A pair of birdies on holes 13 and 14 finished the job.

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Poulter grabbed UF’s second point, but had to work a little harder than Swanswick. Poulter and Carson Bacha sat tied through 11 holes. A par on hole 12 gave Poulter a 1UP lead through 12 after Bacha made bogey. He never looked back by growing his lead to a final 3&2 victory.

Sophomore Jack Turner lost his quarterfinal’s matchup against Oklahoma’s Drew Goodman, but was Florida savior in the semifinal round against the Tigers. Up 2-1, the Gators needed just one more point to score a spot in the finals. With Gilligan and Turner being the only UF golfers left to play, all eyes turned to Turner, who was one hole ahead of Gilligan.

Turner battled one of college golf’s best golfers all round. Auburn’s Jackson Koivun is the back-to-back SEC individual champion, No.2 amateur in the world and the one man standing in the way of Florida and triumph.

The two went back-and-forth, with neither leading by more than one point up until the 16th hole. On hole 16, Koivun just barely missed a putt for par. Turner had a clutch two putt to par to put him 2Up with two holes remaining. The pair tied on hole 17 to end the match and send Florida to the SEC finals.

“He [Jackson Koivun] played unbelievable, so I knew that was going to be tough and he was going to make a lot of putts, make a lot of birdies,” Turner said. “But I just hung tight and at the end his putter cooled off a little bit and I was just in the right position at the right time and got it done.”

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Final Step

UF will compete for its 17th Southeastern Conference title and second under coach J.C. Deacon:

“I’m so proud of these guys,” Deacon said. “They work so hard and the deserve this opportunity. And hats off to coach Clinard and coach Williams, they’ve got an unbelievable program and it was going to take our best golf to beat them today. And we’ve just been getting better all year, and today was probably the best day we’ve had, and I’m just so happy for them that they get the opportunity tomorrow and just really proud of them. So awesome stuff boys, love you guys.”

The Gators face No. 3 seed Texas A&M on Sunday for the chance at a conference title. Tee off is at 8 a.m. with live coverage on SEC Network+.

SEC Championship Finals Pairings: No. 5 Florida vs. No. 3 Texas A&M
8 a.m. | Luke Poulter vs. Jamie Montojo
8:10 a.m. | Matthew Kress vs. Aaron Pounds
8:20 a.m. | Zack Swanwick vs. Wheaton Ennis
8:30 a.m. | Jack Turner vs. Phichaksn Maichon
8:40 a.m. | Ian Gilligan vs. Michael Heidelbaugh