With Ricky Castillo, one of the nation’s top freshmen,
firing a sizzling 7-under-par 63 in Saturday afternoon’s second round, host
Florida, No. 31 in the latest Golfstat rankings, surged to a 10-shot
lead in the Florida Gators Invitational in Gainesville, Fla.
Castillo of Yorba Linda, Calif. and No. 5 in the World
Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), bogeyed the first hole of his afternoon round over
Florida’s home course, the Mark Bostick Golf Course, then had eight birdies the
rest of the way as he surged to the top of the individual leaderboard with a
7-under 133 total.
Castillo had opened with an even-par 70 over the 6,701-yard,
par-70 Mark Bostick layout. Last summer, Castillo was a co-medalist in
qualifying for match play in the U.S. Junior Amateur at The Inverness Club in
Toledo, Ohio and came back to finish in a tie for second in qualifying for
match play in the U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst before advancing to the round of
16.
Castillo lost in the round of 16 at Pinehurst to eventual
runnerup John Augenstein, who is also in the field in the Florida Gators
Invitational. Augenstein, a senior at Vanderbilt from Owensboro, Ky. and No. 13
in the WAGR, was in a group tied for 16th place at 2-over 142 after
a 1-under 69 in the afternoon session of Saturday’s double-round.
Castillo’s spectacular round enabled the Gators to add an
8-under 272 to their opening round of 3-over 283 for a 5-under 555 total.
The Gators’ Southeastern Conference rival Vanderbilt, at No.
19 the highest-ranked team in the field, was 10 shots behind Florida in second
place at 5-over 565. The Commodores, who made a run to the semifinals in last
spring’s NCAA Championship at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark.,
also broke par in the afternoon with a 3-under 277 after opening up with an
8-over 288.
No. 47 West Virginia, out of the Big 12, was five shots
behind Vanderbilt in third place at 10-over 570 after adding a 1-over 281 to
its opening-round 289.
No. 73 Penn State, building on the momentum it gained from a
runnerup finish in last weekend’s Big Ten Match Play Championship, was a shot
behind West Virginia in fourth place at 11-over 571. The Nittany Lions shaved
three shots off their opening-round 287 with a solid 4-over 284 in the
afternoon.
No. 36 South Florida was a shot behind Penn State in fifth
place in the 14-team field at 12-over 572. The Bulls, who saw a four-year reign
atop the American Athletic Conference halted with a fourth-place finish last
spring, carded a pair of 6-over 286s.
Backing up Castillo for the Gators was John Axelson, a
junior from Denmark who was among a group of four players tied for eighth place
at even-par 140 after adding an afternoon 1-under 69 to his opening-round 71.
Also in that group was Florida’s Quentin Debove, a freshman
from France who matched Axelson’s effort with rounds of 71 and 69. Debove was
competing as an individual, but that’s the kind of showing that can gain you
some serious consideration for a spot in the starting five.
Blake Dyer, a redshirt senior from St. Petersburg, Fla.,
landed in the group tied for 12th place at 1-over 141 as he matched
par in the afternoon with a 70 after opening with a 71. Chris Nido, a junior
from Miami, Fla., also contributed an even-par 70 to the Gators’ second-round
surge after opening with a 72 and was among the group tied for 16th
place at 2-over 142.
Rounding out the Florida lineup was Manny Girona, a redshirt
sophomore from Windermere, Fla. who was among the group tied for 67th
place at 11-over 151. Girona struggled to an afternoon 80, but his opening
round of 1-over 71 was a counter for the Gators.
As scintillating as Castillo’s 63 was, it was not the low
round of the day. That belonged to West Virginia’s Logan Perkins, a senior from
Locust Grove, Ga. who fired an 8-under 62 in Saturday afternoon’s second round
to trail Castillo by just a shot in the individual standings at 6-under 134.
Perkins, who opened with a 2-over 72, started on the ninth
hole and had eight birdies with nary a bogey on his card, including three
straight birdies at the 16th, 17th and 18th
holes in recording the low round in program history.
Coastal Carolina senior Zack Taylor, who finished in a tie
for fourth in the 2014 PIAA Class AAA Championship as a senior at Baldwin, was
three shots behind Perkins in third place at 2-under 137. Taylor bettered par
in both rounds, adding a 2-under 68 to his opening-round 69.
Jacksonville’s Eduardo Carrette, a senior from Mexico, and
South Florida’s Luke Gifford, a sophomore from Boca Raton, Fla., were tied for
fourth place, each landing on 2-under 138. Carrette fired a sparkling 5-under 65
in Saturday afternoon’s second round after opening up with a 73 while Gifford
matched par in the afternoon with a 70 after opening with a 68.
Penn State senior Ryan Davis, winner of the prestigious Met
Amateur in 2018 at Arcola Country Club in Paramus, N.J., fired a 2-under 68 in
the afternoon to get a share of sixth place with Coastal Carolina’s Tyler Gray,
a sophomore from Lugoff, S.C.
Davis of Berkley Heights, N.J. had opened with a 1-over 71.
Gray added a 71 to his opening round of 2-under 68.
Rounding out the foursome tied for eighth place at even-par
140 along with Florida’s Axelson and Debove were Vanderbilt’s Matthew Riedel, a
freshman from Houston, and Mississippi State’s Ben Nelson, a sophomore from
Madison, Miss.
Riedel led the way for the Commodores as he fired a solid
3-under 67 in the afternoon after opening with a 73. Nelson added a 72 to his
opening round of 2-under 68.
Backing up Davis for Penn State was his fellow senior Alec
Bard of New Hartford, N.Y. and junior Lou Olsakovsky, an Upper St. Clair
product, both of whom were among the group tied for 26th place at
4-over 144. Bard carded a pair of steady 2-over 72s and Olsakovsky opened
strong by matching par with a 70 before adding a 74 in the afternoon.
James McHugh, a junior from Rye, N.Y., was in the group tied
for 39th place at 6-over 146 after adding a 2-over 72 to his
opening-round 74. Rounding out the Penn State lineup was junior Lukas Clark, a
Council Rock South product who ended up in the group tied for 50th
place at 8-over 148 after adding a solid 72 to his opening-round 76.
Liberty, ranked 29th, was tied for seventh place
at 576 after adding a 287 to its opening-round 289. Junior Zach Barbin of the
golfing Barbins of Elkton, Md. was in in the lineup for the Flames and was
among the group tied for 61st place at 150 after adding a 76 to his
opening-round 74.
The Florida Gators Invitational concludes Sunday with a
single round.
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