Gators Invitational: Florida continues home dominance and secure fifth straight win

February 17, 2024 | by Justin Golba of AmateurGolf.com

Florida Men's Golf team (Florida Athletics Photo)

2023 Walker Cupper Nick Gabrelcik of North Florida wins the individual competition behind a stellar final round

The Florida men's golf team won the Florida Gators Invitational on Saturday at Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville, Fla., securing its fifth consecutive victory in the tournament and its third consecutive of the season.

Florida shot 26-under 814 to win the team competition by three shots over the other Florida team in the field. Florida (B) finished in solo second place at 23-under 817. By rule, the B Team does not count as a team finish, so North Florida finishes in solo second place, 13 shots behind.

South Florida finished in solo third place at 1-over, and Florida Atlantic and Furman finished T4 at 5-over.

Florida has now won their home tournament 30 times in its 47-year history. The 26-under performance is the fourth lowest by par in Gators Invitational history and T10 all-time in program history, which was last shot for Florida's national championship title in 2001.

Related: SEA BEST INVITATIONAL: FLORIDA WINS THE TEAM TITLE FOR THE THIRD STRAIGHT SEASON

The victory is the fourth of the season and marks the 25th team title all-time under head coach J.C. Deacon in his 10th season. It is the third consecutive year Florida has won both the Sea Best and Gators Invitational in the same season. This is the seventh season under Deacon UF that has won multiple tournaments in a season and the fourth of three-plus. UF has won three straight tournaments to start the spring for the first time since 1999, according to the Florida Athletics website.

In the individual competition, 2023 Walker Cupper Nick Gabrelcik of North Florida secured the comeback victory behind a 6-under 64 final round to finish 13-under and win by one shot over teammate Andrew Riley. Riley finished 12-under and one shot behind Gabrelcik.

Gabrelcik recorded seven birdies and one bogey to jump up the leaderboard two spots and secure the win. Gabrelcik is currently ranked No. 4 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings.

Gabrelcik and Riley both made birdie on Holes No. 16 and 17 to get to 13-under and tied at the top of the leaderboard with one hole remaining, but a bogey on No. 18 from Riley gave Gabrelcik the win after he made a par. Gabrelcik made birdies on Holes No. 10, 12, 14, 16, and 17 to shoot 30 on the back nine.

Gabrelcik shot rounds of 68-65-64, and Riley shot rounds of 68-64-66.

Ian Gilligan of Florida, the 36-hole leader, shot a 1-under 69 final round to finish 10-under and in solo third place. Egor Eroshenko of UCF finished in solo fourth place at 7-under, and Josh Ryan of Liberty finished in solo fifth place at 6-under to round out the top five. Jack Turner, Parker Bell, and Joe Pagdin of Florida joined Jake Peacock of South Florida at 5-under and T6, and Ryan Hart of Florida finished in solo tenth place at 4-under to round out the top ten and the Gator's scoring.

Gabrelcik had a tremendous 2023 campaign, winning the Southern Amateur, making the cut at the Valspar Championship, and playing on the winning U.S. Walker Cup team.

Results: Florida Gators Invitational

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Nick Gabrelcik	Trinity, FL	600	68-65-64=197
2	Andrew Riley	St. Johns, FL	400	68-64-66=198
3	Ian Gilligan	Reno, NV	300	69-62-69=200
4	Egor Eroshenko	, Russia	300	68-66-69=203
5	Josh Ryan	Norristown, PA	300	68-69-67=204