Castillo heats up to help Florida surge past some of its SEC brethren and win the Gators Invitational

    In the Southeastern Conference, the best college football conference in America, just about every matchup is a rivalry, at least to one of the teams.

   But Florida-Georgia is a little extra special. It’s really that way in every sport, it’s just that football gets all the hype.

   Take this weekend’s Gators Invitational, presented by VvStar, hosted by Florida at its home course, the Donald Ross-designed, Bobby Weed-tweaked Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville, Fla.

   Each team boasted a newly minted U.S. Walker Cup team member. The United States Golf Association stated it would take the top three Americans in the World Amateur Golf Ranking in its Feb. 10 update as automatic qualifiers for captain Nathaniel Crosby’s U.S. team, which will take on Great Britain & Ireland at iconic Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Fla. right in the middle of the college postseason in May.

   That means Georgia’s Davis Thompson, a senior from Auburn, Ala. and No. 2 in the WAGR, and Florida’s Ricky Castillo, a sophomore from Yorba Linda, Calif. and No. 4 in the WAGR, will be representing the Stars & Stripes at Seminole.

   Thompson made a big splash with an opening round of 1-under 69 in the unusual September U.S. Open on the Winged Foot Golf Club’s treacherous West Course. He couldn’t back it up as he missed the cut with a second-round 78, but he was at or near the top of the leaderboard for quite a while in the opening round.

   Florida came into its Gators Invitational at No. 15 in the Golfstat rankings at the end of the fall portion of the wraparound 2020-2021 season while Georgia was No. 3.

   The Gators Invitational was scheduled to be 18 holes Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but with stormy weather in the forecast, the coaches agreed to get in as many holes as possible Friday and Saturday and if they got 54 holes in by the end of the day Saturday, they would wrap it up in two days. Sunday would be the just-in-case day.

   They played 27 holes Friday and by the time the second round, split over two days, was over Saturday morning, Georgia had the lead at 21-under 539, No. 16 LSU was in second place at 540, No. 8 Auburn and No. 9 Alabama – did somebody say something about great SEC rivalries? – were tied for third at 543, underrated Liberty was fifth at 545 and the host Gators were all the way back in sixth at 546. Oh yeah, and Vanderbilt, which was No. 1 in the Golfstat rankings at the end of the fall, was a shot behind Florida in seventh place at 547.

   But with Castillo going off for a 6-under 64 over the 6,701-yard, par-70 Mark Bostick layout in Saturday afternoon’s final round – they got the whole thing in in two days – Florida put together a scintillating 15-under 265 team score to capture the team crown for the second straight year with a 29-under 811 total, finishing five shots ahead of Georgia and Auburn, both of which landed on 24-under 816.

   Florida head coach J.C. Deacon made a reference to tough conditions, so the players might have dodged some raindrops here and there and, in case you haven’t heard, the wind tends to blow a little this time of year in Florida. But the Gators got it done against a slew of their SEC rivals with the best team round of the tournament.

   The SEC teams played a little golf in the fall, but many programs, Liberty being one of them, saw their fall campaigns completely shut down by the coronavirus pandemic, the same pandemic that halted the 2019-’20 season in its tracks last March.

   Florida had won the team crown in the Timuquana Collegiate at another Donald Ross, Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville, a couple of weeks ago, beating Liberty in a playoff. But this was a tougher field and it was at home.

   The Gators opened with a solid 8-under 271 in Friday morning’s opening round before adding a 5-under 275 in the disjointed second round before their final-round explosion.

   Georgia opened with an 11-under 269 and grabbed the lead after two rounds with a solid 10-under 270. It’s not like the Bulldogs played poorly in the final round, they posted a 3-under 277, but they couldn’t keep up with Florida and they allowed Auburn to catch them at 816.

   Auburn had the best round of the split middle 18 with a 13-under 267 after opening with a 4-under 276. Again, the Tigers closed with a solid 7-under 273 to join Georgia at 816, but the Gators just blew right on by them.

   It was another three shots back to LSU in fifth place as the Bayou Tigers ripped off a pair of 10-under 270s in the first two rounds before flattening out a little in the final round with a 1-under 279 that left them with a 21-under 819 total.

   Liberty surged into contention on the strength of an 11-under 269 in the second round and closed with a 5-under 275 as the Flames crashed the SEC party by finishing fifth at 20-under 820, a shot behind LSU.

   Alabama had the best final round of any team not named Florida as the Crimson Tide closed with a 10-under 270 to finish in sixth place, three shots behind Liberty at 17-under 823. Top-ranked Vanderbilt, which moved into contention with a 10-under 270 in the split second round, finished up with a 1-under 279 to finish seventh in the 21-team field at 14-under 826, three shots behind Alabama.

   Finishing 21^st and last in the field was Penn State as the Nittany Lions got it under par in the final round with a 1-under 279 for an 11-over 851 total. The Big Ten shut down sports in the fall, other than football, of course, and Penn State was able to shake off some of the rust in last weekend’s Big Ten Match Play.

   Penn State opened with a 5-over 285 and struggled to a 7-over 287 in the second round over two days. It says here there is no downside to challenging your players against a big-time field like the Nittany Lions were up against in the Gators Invitational.

   As good as Castillo was in the final round for Florida, Yuxin Lin, of China and No. 20 in the WAGR, was nearly as good, firing a 5-under 65 that left him in a tie for sixth place with an 8-under 202 total. Lin started his college career on the West Coast with Southern California in the fall of 2019.

   Not sure if the pandemic restrictions – the Pac-12 didn’t allow its teams on the course in the fall – played a role in Lin’s decision to transfer, but I’m sure the Gators are happy to have him. Lin opened with a 2-under 68 and added a 1-under 69 in the second round.

   Joe Pagdin, a freshman from England, has proven to be a solid addition to the Florida lineup as well. Pagdin was Florida’s medalist in the opening round with a 5-under 65 and matched par in the second round with a 70 before closing with a 2-under 68 to finish among a group of three players tied for eighth place at 7-under 203.

   Mr. Walker Cup and No. 4 in the world Castillo actually was Florida’s third-best player in the individual standings. He started slowly with a throw-out 1-over 71 and added a 1-under 69 before putting his considerable talent on full display with the final-round 64 that left him in the group tied for 11^th place at 6-under 204.

   Florida got a strong showing from another freshman, Tyler Wilkes of Tampa, Fla., as he closed with a 1-under 69 that the Gators had the luxury of throwing out to finish among the group tied for 18^th place at 5-under 205. Wilkes’ 67 made him low Gator in the second round.

   Fred Biondi, a redshirt sophomore from Brazil, rounded out the Florida lineup as he closed with a 2-under 68 to end up in the group tied for 57^th place at 1-over 211. Biondi struggled a little in the second round with a 74, but his opening-round 69 and his final-round 68 were both counters for the Gators.

   As you would expect, there were standout individual performances all over the place, led by co-medalists Trent Phillips, a junior at Georgia from Inman, S.C., and Andrew Kozan, a senior at Auburn from West Palm Beach, Fla., both of whom landed on 11-under 199.

   Kozan started slowly, matching par in the opening round with a 70 before ripping off a 6-under 64 in the split second round and closing with a 5-under 65. Phillips was the opposite, opening with a sizzling 64 and adding a 65 that gave him a three-shot lead heading into the final round before matching par with a final-round 70 that allowed Kozan to catch him.

   South Carolina’s Ryan Hall, a junior from Knoxville, Tenn., finished a shot behind the top two in third place at 10-under 200. Hall added a 68 to his opening-round 67 before closing strong with a 5-under 65.

   LSU’s Trey Winstead, a junior from Baton Rouge, La. and No. 38 in the WAGR, shared fourth place with North Florida’s Nick Gabrelcik, a freshman from Trinity, Fla., each landing on 9-under 201. Both were solid throughout, Winstead adding a 66 to his opening-round 68 before closing with a 67 and Gabrelcik opening with a 68 and adding a second-round 67 before closing with a 66.

   Joining Florida’s Lin in the tie for sixth place at 8-under 202 was Jacksonville’s Michael Sakane, a redshirt junior from Japan. Sakane fired quite the opening salvo with a 7-under 63 in Friday’s first round before cooling off with a 1-over 71 in the second round and closing with a 2-under 68.

   A pair of Liberty players, Ervin Chang, a senior from Malaysia, and Kieran Vincent, a redshirt junior from Zimbabwe, shared eighth place with Florida’s Pagdin at 7-under 203.

   Chang was Phillips’ closest pursuer going into the final round as he followed up an opening-round 69 with a sizzling 7-under 63. But he cooled off with a final-round 71 to end up at 203. Vincent matched par in the opening round with a 70 before ripping off respective rounds of 66 and 67 in the second and final rounds.

   Georgia’s Thompson ended up on the same number as his future U.S. Walker Cup teammate Castillo as Thompson was in the group tied for 11^th place at 6-under 204. He added a 3-under 67 to his opening-round 69 before closing with a 68.

   Penn State was led by Alec Bard, a graduate student from New Hartford, N.Y. who finished among the group tied for 48^th place at even-par 210. After opening with a 73, Bard added a 2-under 68 and closed with a 1-under 69.

   Backing up Bard was senior Lou Olsakovsky, an Upper St. Clair product who closed with his best round of the weekend, a 2-under 68, to join the group tied for  57^th place at 1-over 211. Senior Lukas Clark, a former Council Rock South standout, also finished strong with his best round of the weekend, a 1-under 69 that left him among the group tied for 83^rd place at 4-over 214.

   Ryan Davis, like Bard returning for a fifth year as a grad student, never really got it going in Gainesville as the Berkeley Heights, N.J. native opened with a 74, added a 72 in the second round and closed with a 73 to end up among the group tied for 102^nd place at 9-over 219.

   Sophomore Jimmy Meyers, who helped Pittsburgh Central Catholic capture the 2018 PIAA Class AAA team crown, also couldn’t solve the Mark Bostick layout, finishing in a tie for 116^th place at 224. After opening with a 1-over 71, Meyers posted a 76 in the second round before finishing up with a 77.

   There was a familiar name in the South Carolina lineup as sophomore Jack Wall, the younger brother of two-time BMW Philadelphia Amateur champion Jeremy Wall out of the Manasquan River Golf Club at the Jersey Shore, finished among the group tied for 88^th place at 5-over 215. Jack Wall opened with a solid 1-under 69 before struggling in the second round with a 75 and closing with a 71.