Castillo leads Florida to a title sweep at Gators Invitational
- Florida Men's Golf photo
Freshman Ricky Castillo paced the Florida men's golf team in its first VyStar Gators Invitational title since 2011 on Sunday at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.
The Gators shot 7 under in the final round of the event to finish 18 strokes ahead of Vanderbilt at 12-under par. Castillo signed the second-best individual score in tournament history with a 13-under 197, winning the individual title by eight strokes.
"It was really special. Winning here on your home track in front of a bunch of fans is pretty cool," said Castillo. "I played really well all week, just the second round I got something going, made a few puts and then just didn't stop."
Following his second-round 63, Castillo remained near perfect through his final 18 holes, holding his spot at the top of the individual leaderboard. The freshman notched seven birdies throughout the day to put him at 6-under 64 for the round and in clear control of first place.
Junior John Axelsen also had a great final day on the Gators' home track. The junior moved up five spots on the leaderboard to finish in third after shooting 4 under in the final round. The Denmark native signed a clean back nine to go along with five birdies on the day. Axelsen's third-place finish marks his third top-three finish of the season.
In his last Gators Invitational in a Florida uniform senior Blake Dyer finished in the top 20, tying for 16th after shooting a collective 2 over. In the final round, Dyer had two birdies to end the day at 1 over.
Manny Girona shot 2-over 72 through his final 18 holes, rounding out the Gators' counting scores for the day.
Junior Chris Nido finished the tournament at 6 over collectively to tie for 31st on the individual leaderboard.
Quentin Debove highlighted Florida's individual players, ending the event at even par after a third-round 69. Debove's even-par showing put him in a tie for 10th individually.
Notes
- This is the first year since 2011 that the Gators have boasted the individual champion at their home event and the first time that the Gators have won under head coach JC Deacon
- Ricky Castillo's win this weekend comes right after his win at the Sea Best Invitational, marking the first time since 2011 that a Gator has notched back-to-back wins (Bank Vongvanij)
- Castillo's 13-under 197 ties for the second lowest individual score at the Gators Invitational and is the third-lowest score in program history
- Florida's 12-under 828 ties for the 14th best tournament total by score in program history
--Thanks to Florida Men's Golf for this report.
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