Sea Best Invitational: Florida wins the team title for the third straight season

January 30, 2024 | by Justin Golba of AmateurGolf.com

The Florida Gators Men's Golf Team (Florida Athletics Photo)

Robbie Higgins won the individual title behind an impressive 5-under 65 final round

Florida shot 2-over as a team to beat North Florida by three shots and win the Sea Best Invitational at TPC Sawgrass, the Dye's Valley Course, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. The Gators have now won the invitational three years in a row and seven times total.

Florida placed five golfers in the top seven and six in the top 12, including first-round leader Ian Gilligan, who paced Florida to the win with a solo second-place finish at 4-under.

Also, for Florida, Tyler Wilkes finished T4 at 1-under, Luke Poulter finished in solo sixth place at even par, Parker Bell and Jack Turner finished T7 at 1-over, and Miguel Leal finished in solo 12th place at 3-over.

North Florida finished in solo second place at 5-over. The two Florida schools ran away from the rest of the field, as Louisville finished in solo third place at 18-over. Cal Poly finished in solo fourth place at 23-over, and Florida Gulf Coast finished in solo fifth place at 25-over.

Gilligan shot rounds of 70-67-69 to finish one shot back of individual winner Robbie Higgins.

Higgins shot rounds of 69-71-65 and jumped four spots up the leaderboard with his final round of 5-under 65.

Higgins was even par through the first two rounds but found a groove in the final round, recording six birdies and a bogey. Higgins made par on the first four holes and then strung together three straight birdies on Holes No. 5 through 7 to shoot a 32 in the front nine.

He then birdied Holes No. 13, 14, and 17 to get to 6-under and take a three-shot lead into the final hole, where he made a bogey to win by two shots.

Higgins teammate at North Florida, Nick Gabrelcik, finished in solo third place at 2-under. The 2023 Walker Cupper Gabrelcik bounced back from a 4-over 74 in the first round with rounds of 65-69 in the second and third rounds.

Results: Sea Best Invitational

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Robbie Higgins	Bradenton, FL	600	69-71-65=205
2	Ian Gilligan	Reno, NV	400	70-67-69=206
3	Nick Gabrelcik	Trinity, FL	300	74-65-69=208
T4	Tyler Wilkes	Tampa, FL	300	71-68-70=209
T4	Niilo Maki-Petaja	, Finland	300	70-69-70=209

View full results for Sea Best Invitational

About the Sea Best Invitational

Sea Best Invitational: Florida wins the team title for the third straight season

54-hole men's college tournament hosted by the University of Jacksonville at Atlantic Beach CC. Team (best four out of five players each round) and individual competitions.