Florida Gators dominate Georgetown Intercollegiate

October 16, 2023 | by Amit Pandey of AmateurGolf.com

Florida Gators (Loyola Athletics Photo)

The Gators won the team competition by 17 shots and placed three golfers in the top five in the individual competition.

The Florida men’s golf team consisting of Matthew Kress, Luke Poulter, Ian Gilligan, Tyler Wilkes, John DuBois, and Jack Turner shot an even-par 864 over 54 holes to win the Georgetown Intercollegiate at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, MD.

Gators posted rounds of 292-281-291 to win the team title by a 17-stroke margin over Loyola Maryland, who shot 296-291-294 to finish runners-up at 17-over 881.

Campbell finished third with a total score of 26-over 890.

Florida's victory marked the first of the 2023-24 season and the 22nd all-time under head coach J.C. Deacon.

In the individual competition, Matthew Kress, a sophomore at Florida shot 5-under with his rounds of 72-70-69. Kress clinched the title with a commanding four-stroke lead over a quartet of contenders, including Jackson Roman from Loyola Maryland, Nathan Han from Columbia, and his teammates Tyler Wilkes and Jack Turner, both hailing from Florida. They all concluded the tournament T2, each carding matching 1-under.

Kress began the final round T2 with a score of 2-under, trailing freshman Jack Turner of Florida by four strokes. Turner held a four-shot lead, courtesy of his consecutive rounds of 69-69, for a total of 6-under par.

Kress’s final round 69 consisted of five birdies and two bogeys. Interestingly, these bogeys occurred on the final two holes of the tournament when he had already established a substantial six-stroke lead over the field.

Turner, the 36-hole leader, added a final round of 77 to finish tied-2nd in the tournament. Florida’s four players finished inside the top 10 on the leaderboard - Matthew Kress (Winner), Tyler Wilkes (T-2), Jack Turner (T-2), and Ian Gilligan (T-8).

Luke Poulter, a redshirt freshman at the University of Florida and the son of Ian Poulter, a three-time PGA Tour winner, finished T12 in the tournament. He accomplished this with consistent rounds of 72-72-74, concluding with a total score of 4-over.

Results: Georgetown Intercollegiate

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Matthew Kress	Saratoga, CA	400	72-70-69=211
T2	Jackson Roman	Berlin, CT	300	69-76-70=215
T2	Nathan Han	Somers, NY	300	70-74-71=215
T2	Tyler Wilkes	Tampa, FL	300	73-70-72=215
T2	Jack Turner	Orlando, FL	300	69-69-77=215