Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. — It’s been two years since the University of Florida men won a tournament.
The Gators took a big step in breaking that drought on Monday, at a tournament in which they’ve had considerable success.
Freshman Fred Biondi birdied three of his last five holes at the TPC Sawgrass Dye’s Valley course to take the individual lead at 4-under-par 66 and teammates John Axelsen (68) and John Dubois (69) also posted under-par scores as Florida took a two-shot lead over North Carolina in the first round of the 12th annual Sea Best Invitational, hosted by Jacksonville University.
Florida, 37th in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings to start the spring, won the Sea Best in 2011, 2012, 2016 and 2017. The Gators are 4-under 276 and the Tar Heels, who won the tournament in 2015, are 2-under 278.
Texas A&M is third at 1-over, Campbell College fourth at 2-over and the University of North Florida is fifth at 4-over.
The tournament field stayed on the course to begin the second round on Monday afternoon. The third round will be Tuesday.
The Gators last won a tournament at an NCAA regional in 2018, finished no better than seventh in four fall events and hasn’t had a top-five finish in seven events, dating back to last spring’s Robert Kepler Invitational at Ohio State.
Coach J.C. Deacon is searching for the right formula with a roster that has only one senior and three juniors. He started two freshmen (Biondi and Ricky Castillo), two juniors, (Axelsen and Chris Nido) and senior Blake Dyer.
Axelsen is tied for fourth with Eduardo Carrete of Jacksonville and Cody Carroll of the University of North Florida. Dubois, playing as an individual, is tied for eighth.
Jack Trent of UNLV, the highest-ranked individual player in the field by Golfweek/Sagarin at No. 10, shot a bogey-free 67 and is tied for second with Pontus Nyhold of Campbell.
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