Ian Gilligan of Florida led the Gators to the first-round lead in the team competition after a 3-under at TPC Sawgrass, the Dye's Valley Course, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
The golfers played rounds one and two on Monday, with Gilligan shooting a first-round even par 70 and a second-round 3-under 67. In the opening round, he recorded four birdies, but a bogey and triple bogey evened his score out. In the second round, he recorded five birdies to two bogeys.
Nick Gabrelcik of North Florida, Tyler Wilkies of Florida, and Niilo Maki-Petaja of Louisiana Tech are all two shots behind Gilligan and are T2 at 1-under. Max Kennedy of Louisville, Hunter Bott of UTSA, and Robbie Higgins of North Florida are T5 at even par.
To end 2023, Gilligan used rounds of 65-65-68 to shoot 12-under and win the Patriot All-America Invitational at The Wigwam, Gold Course, in Litchfield Park, Ariz., by three shots. A hole-out eagle on No. 13 punctuated his final round 2-under 68 to win the title.
In the team competition, Florida leads by an impressive seven shots at 2-over, while North Florida is in solo second place at 9-over. Louisville is in solo third place at 14-over, Texas-San Antonio is in solo fourth place at 17-over, and Florida Gulf Coast is in solo fifth place at 18-over.
Florida is the two-time defending team champions from 2022 and 2023, and Gabrelcik won the individual title in 2022.