Tag: Florida

After Viktor Hovland’s recent move, half of the world’s top 10 golfers live in the same county. Which one?

Hovland’s move gives this county half of the world’s top 10 golfers in the current ranking and 10 of the top 30.

Palm Beach County in Florida has added another top 10 golfer in the world among its residents.

Norway’s Viktor Hovland, ranked No. 4 in the Official World Golf Ranking, recently moved from Stillwater, Oklahoma, to Palm Beach Gardens, where he is living with a friend. Hovland is scouting the area for the best place to buy.

Hovland’s move gives Palm Beach County half of the world’s top 10 golfers in the current ranking and 10 of the top 30.

Hovland, 26, had lived in Stillwater since arriving at Oklahoma State University. When asked about the move after his pro-am Wednesday before the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, he compared the weather in the Midwest to South Florida.

“The weather is a big one,” he said. “It’s just hard to beat it for golf, especially this time of year. This has kind of been a rough winter in Stillwater. Just not great for practicing. Even though I love Oklahoma. Summertime it’s great, and I certainly miss the people there.”

Stillwater’s average temperature from December through January is in the 50s. The city had three consecutive days in January when the low was below zero.

Hovland also was drawn by the proximity to international airports, especially Miami which has nonstop flights to Oslo.

“I do find it easier if I want to go back home to Norway, it’s a direct flight from Miami,” he said. “I can have family and friends come down and hang out. It’s a little bit harder for them to come to Stillwater, and, yeah, there’s not much to do there either. So at least in Florida, there’s a little bit more we can do.”

Hovland is the reigning FedEx Cup champion, which earned him $18 million, and has won six times on the PGA Tour. He joins fellow top 10 golfers Rory McIlroy (No. 2), Xander Schauffele (5), Patrick Cantlay (6) and Matthew Fitzpatrick (9) as residents of northern Palm Beach County. Hovland, McIlroy and Fitzpatrick were part of the victorious European Ryder Cup team, as were Jupiter residents Shane Lowry (54) and team captain Luke Donald.

Keegan Bradley (15), Cameron Young (21), Justin Thomas (23), Matthieu Pavon (24) and Brooks Koepka (30) round out top 30 county residents in the current ranking.

Others of note include Rickie Fowler, Daniel Berger, Gary Woodland, Eric Cole, Lucas Glover and Matt Kuchar.

Koepka leads a long list of LIV golfers in the area, among them Branden Grace, Dustin Johnson, Anirban Lahiri, Joaquin Niemann, Mito Pereira, Charl Schwartzel, Peter Uihlein and Matthew Wolff.

Bernhard Langer, Ernie Els and Justin Leonard are among those on the PGA Tour Champions living in the county.

Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and golf writer for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@gannett.com.

Florida wins top 20 match against Lady Vols

Florida wins top 20 match against the Lady Vols.

No. 18 Florida (6-7, 2-2 SEC) defeated No. 16 Tennessee (10-4, 2-2 SEC), 5-2, on Saturday at Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville, Florida.

Tennessee senior Sofia Cabezas earned her 80th career doubles win.

Tennessee-Florida tennis results

Singles

1. #45 Rachel Gailis (UF) def. #27 Sofia Cabezas (TENN) 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
2. #80 Sara Dahlstrom (UF) def. Elza Tomase (TENN) 6-3, 5-7, 6-3
3. #79 Carly Briggs (UF) def. Alana Wolfberg (TENN) 6-2, 7-5
4. Alicia Dudeney (UF) def. #121 Catherine Aulia (TENN) 6-3, 7-6
5. Qavia Lopez (UF) def. Esther Adeshina (TENN) 6-0, 6-4
6. Lauren Anzalotta (TENN) def. Malwina Rowinska (UF) 6-3, 6-2

Order of finish: (5,6,3,4,2,1)

Doubles

1. #57 Elza Tomase/Sofia Cabezas (TENN) def. Malwina Rowinska/Qavia Lopez (UF) 6-3
2. #51 Esther Adeshina/Alana Wolfberg (TENN) def. Alicia Dudeney/Bente Spee (UF) 6-1
3. Carly Briggs/Rachel Gailis (UF) vs. Catherine Aulia/Lauren Anzalotta (TENN) 4-5, unfinished

Order of finish: (2,1)

Check the yardage book: Bay Hill for the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational on the PGA Tour

StrackaLine offers a hole-by-hole course guide to Bay Hill and the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard.

Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, site of the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by Mastercard on the PGA Tour, opened in 1961 with a design by Dick Wilson. Arnold Palmer took over the property on lease in 1970, bought it in 1975 and made adjustments to the course multiple times over the following decades.

Bay Hill, which has been the site of the Tour event since 1979, ranks No. 5 in Florida on Golfweek’s Best list of public-access layouts in each state. It also ties for No. 191 on Golfweek’s Best list of all modern courses in the U.S., and it ties for No. 58 on the list of all resort courses in the U.S.

Bay Hill will play to 7,466 yards with a par of 72. The layout is one of the toughest on the PGA Tour each year.

Thanks to yardage books provided by StrackaLine – the maker of detailed yardage books for thousands of courses around the world – we can see exactly the challenges the pros face this week at Bay Hill.

Former Wisconsin defensive lineman joins Florida coaching staff

Former Wisconsin defensive lineman joins Florida coaching staff

Former Wisconsin defensive lineman Jeremy Patterson is joining the staff at Florida as an assistant defensive line coach and graduate assistant, according to a report from The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman.

He joins the traditional SEC power after having previously been a player development assistant at Rutgers.

Patterson played at Wisconsin from 2014-2016, appearing in four total games along the defensive line — two each in 2015 and 2016. He then transferred to Tennessee State for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. His second stop included 18 total games, 18 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and two quarterback hurries.

Related: Breakout candidates for Wisconsin football 2024 spring practice

The former Badger joins a Florida program coming off three consecutive losing seasons and a 5-7 2023 campaign. He will help coach a defensive line that in 2023 had Florida finish with the No. 81-ranked rush defense with 155.58 yards allowed per game.

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Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

Check the yardage book: PGA National’s Champion Course for the 2024 Cognizant Classic on the PGA Tour

StrackaLine takes you through the Bear Trap and the rest of PGA National’s Champion Course.

The Champion Course at PGA National – site of this week’s Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches on the PGA Tour – was designed by the team of Tom Fazio and George Fazio and opened in 1981. The course has been renovated by Jack Nicklaus over the past two decades.

Located in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and home to a stretch of holes dubbed the Bear Trap – Nos. 15, 16 and 17 – the Champion has major history. It was host to the 1983 Ryder Cup, in which the United States beat Europe 14 ½-13 ½, and it hosted the 1987 PGA Championship won by Larry Nelson in a playoff over Lanny Wadkins. Now PGA National is the first stop on the PGA Tour’s annual Florida Swing.

The Champion ranks No. 7 in Florida on Golfweek’s Best list of public-access courses in each state, and it ties for No. 69 on the list of top resort courses in the U.S.

The course will play to 7,147 yards with a par of 71 for the Cognizant Classic. No. 6 plays as a par 5 for resort guests (and is marked as such on the following yardage map), but it counts as a par 4 for the PGA Tour pros.

PGA National Resort is home to six courses, including two nontraditional layouts that include the new Match Course by Andy Staples, which features holes that can be played from a multitude of lengths with no set par, and the new nine-hole, par-3 Staple Course.

Thanks to yardage books provided by StrackaLine – the maker of detailed yardage books for thousands of courses around the world – we can see exactly the challenges the pros face this week at PGA National.

Biologists wrestle massive 16-foot python from Florida canal

They say it required “all hands” of three men to restrain the thrashing reptile. Burmese pythons are an invasive species in Florida.

A 16-foot Burmese python was captured recently by a team of experts in Florida, but the massive reptile did not surrender without a struggle.

“It was a large female python. She was upset and thrashed around, taking all hands to restrain her,” Ian Bartoszek, a biologist for the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, stated in a news release.

Bartoszek and fellow biologist Ian Sterling were tracking a smaller male python in Collier County with Conservancy board member John Kukk and Kukk’s wife, Julie, when they spotted the giant snake along the edge of a weedy canal.

Burmese pythons are invasive and pose a substantial threat to native wildlife in Florida. The state is in a difficult battle simply to keep their numbers in check and prevent their spread beyond the Everglades.

Breeding-size female pythons represent the largest threat.

Bartoszek stepped in the neck area of the python with a boot and reached to grab its head, while Easterling grabbed the snake closer to its middle.

John and Julie Kukk pose with 16-foot python removed from Everglades region. Photo: Conservancy of Southwest Florida

John Kukk scrambled down the bank and, while knee-deep in the canal, he grabbed the python by its tail.

“After a few minutes of heavy breathing, the hard part was mostly over and the crew tried to get the snake up the steep canal bank and closer to the field truck,” the Conservancy stated.

“Bartoszek held the head with two hands and the snake had wound up tight around Easterling’s leg. It was a bit comical trying to move everyone in unison up the cliff, but after a few laughs they made it to the top and secured the mouth of the snake closed.”

The Conservancy said of the python, which measured 16-plus feet and weighed 120 pounds:

“Her humane removal from the ecosystem will keep an additional 50 invasive pythons from hatching this season and many more over future years. To date, the team has removed over 1,200 pythons weighing over 33,000 pounds from Collier County.”

In June 2022, state biologists captured what they said was the heaviest python they’d encountered. The pregnant snake – containing 122 eggs – weighed 215 pounds and measured 18 feet.

That python had recently consumed a white-tailed deer.

Alabama knocks off Florida 98-93 in OT instant classic

Alabama survives thriller in Tuscaloosa over Florida

It wasn’t pretty for most of the evening as the Crimson Tide shot an ugly 25% from beyond the arc, but when there is a will there is a way as Alabama was able to find a way to hold off Florida in overtime 98-93. The win seemed unlikely as the Gators led 76-67 with 6:13 to go in the game before Alabama responded with a 10-0 run to take a one-point lead.

Mark Sears was awesome as always with 17, but it was Grant Nelson’s presence that put Alabama in the “W” column tonight as he poured in 22 points. Aaron Estrada also played one of his best games of the season as he tallied 20 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and four steals.

The win extends the Tide’s lead in the SEC by a game over Tennessee with just five left to go. One of those five games will be a date with the No. 5 Volunteers in Tuscaloosa on March 2nd. The Tide will also have to travel to Gainsville where they will take on this same Florida team who will have revenge on their mind.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Sam Murphy on Twitter @SamMurphy02.

Gym’Backs tumble on the road, lose to another Top 10 team

Arkansas was able to tie for a pair of individual titles Friday night.

After beginning the season with three straight meet scores above 197, the No. 13 Arkansas gymnastics team has struggled a bit on the road the past two weeks – while facing two of the best programs in the country.

After falling at No. 3 LSU a week ago, the Gym’Backs were outpointed at No. 6 Florida on Friday night, 197.850-196.050.

In front of a rowdy home crowd of 8,823, the Gators outscored the Hogs on all four apparatuses. Arkansas did not register a score of 9.900 until midway through the meet, however, they did bounce back to secure a share of two individual event titles.

Sophomore Frankie Price tied on the floor exercise with an impressive 9.950 and junior Kalyxta Gamiao scored a stellar 9.925 on the beam, finishing in a three-way tie for first.

It was meet of the season aired on the ESPN Network, and the first time the Arkansas program has ever appeared on the flagship network, as a team.

Arkansas now has two meets within three days next week, beginning with the Metroplex Challenge in Fort Worth, where they will face Cal, Oklahoma and Washington on Feb. 17. Two days later, they will travel to Denton, Texas, to compete with Alabama, Arizona, and host Texas Woman’s University.

St. Augustine’s Raptor Run starts and ends at an alligator farm

Run for the raptors!

St. Augustine’s annual 3K Raptor Run is short, flat, family-friendly, and oh-so-Floridian. Each year, entry fees raise money for conservation organizations. This year’s recipient is the nearby Audubon Center for Birds of Prey, which works to save Florida’s raptors. The race starts and finishes at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park. This year, the race falls on March 10 and begins at 8 a.m. Runners and walkers are both welcome. The route winds through the flat and attractive residential neighborhood surrounding the alligator farm.

All race participants will receive post-race refreshments, a T-shirt, and a medal. The Raptor Run’s unique medal depicts a fierce alligator/raptor hybrid with big teeth and long talons. What’s better than that? Plus, every adult who stays and buys a ticket for the alligator farm gets a free child’s admission.

Runners and a racer in a raptor costume milling around a race finish line.
Photo courtesy of St. Augustine Alligator Farm

The first Raptor Run in 2020 partnered with the Avian Research Conservation Institute to celebrate swallow-tailed kites. These graceful raptors have white bodies and deeply forked black tails. Other years, race funds have supported conservation of the large, nonvenomous Eastern indigo snake. Native to the southeastern U.S., these thick snakes look glossy black, until sunlight reveals their iridescent purple highlights.

Stacks of medals with black ribbons.
Photo courtesy of St. Augustine Alligator Farm

Stay for the Alligator Farm

After the Raptor Run, stay to visit the alligator farm. While the focus is firmly on crocodilians, you’ll also see African birds like Cape Griffon vultures, hooded vultures, and Marabou storks. Don’t miss the Madagascar lemurs, sloths, and Maximo, a saltwater crocodile that measures more than 15 feet long.

An alligator in water at an alligator farm in Augustine, Florida.
Maximo, up-close! / Photo by Teresa Bergen

Usually, I’m leery of zoos and feel bad about seeing confined animals. But I felt better after talking to Scott Brown, the Crocodile Crossing zip line and ropes course manager. Yes, you can zipline over crocodilians. This also overrode my zoo qualms. Because how often in life do you get that opportunity?

An albino alligator.
Photo by Teresa Bergen

It was super fun to fly over gator lagoons and be up in the treetops with roseate spoonbills. Of course, building such a course was even more exciting.

Brown described the process of constructing a zip course inside crocodilian enclosures. “You’ve got to be able to go up with a ladder. And you have to build platforms on the trees off the ladders. Then you’re free hanging from the trees with straps and climbing gear.”

Yikes! All under the watchful eyes of dozens of crocs. “It was more curiosity than anything,” Brown said of being watched by all those reptiles.

An alligator at a Florida alligator farm.
Photo by Teresa Bergen

Other active things to do in Saint Augustine

If you visit St. Augustine for the Raptor Race, you’ll also find lots of other fun, active outdoor things to do. I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Vilano Beach, which is three blocks from a long, pretty beach — perfect for catching the sunrise or going for a run. Tourists love the views from the distinctive black and white striped St. Augustine Lighthouse. Some locals buy annual passes and use the lighthouse’s 219 steps as a running gym.

Black spiral stairs inside the St. Augustine Lighthouse.
Try running up these spiral stairs! / Photo by Teresa Bergen

If you want to rest your legs, join a kayaking tour. St. Augustine Eco Tours offers many on-water adventures, including kayaking by the city’s over 400-year-old downtown. Earth Kinship takes you out in the swampy Florida wilderness, where you’ll kayak amongst gators and snakes.

Kayakers on a lake near Castillo de San Marcos, a Spanish fort in downtown St. Augustine, Florida.
Kayakers paddle by Castillo de San Marcos, a Spanish fort in downtown St. Augustine. / Photo by Teresa Bergen

Come for the Raptor Run and stay for a glimpse of some Florida wildlife.

Runners at the starting line of St. Augustine, Florida's Raptor Run staring at a person dressed in a raptor costume.
Photo courtesy of St. Augustine Alligator Farm

Disclaimer: While this article was not sponsored, Outdoors Wire did visit Saint Augustine during a press trip with Florida’s Historic Coast. As always, Outdoors Wire operates independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.

Giant ‘infamous’ gator spotted on the move in Florida; video

Recent footage shows the normally elusive gator, named, Fabio crossing a trail in broad daylight at Circle B Bar Reserve. “I was in awe.”

Florida is home to more than 1 million alligators, but there’s only one Fabio, a giant among giants in the Circle B Bar Reserve wetlands in Polk County.

The accompanying footage, captured Saturday by Ken Bergquist and shared by WINK News, shows Fabio traversing a trail while being photographed by onlookers.

“Fabio the infamous wild alligator was seen strolling through the Circle B Bar Reserve near Lakeland, Florida this past weekend,” WINK meteorologist Nash Rhodes boasted on Facebook.

While Fabio sightings might not be uncommon, it’s apparently rare to glimpse the reptile fully out of the water and on the move in broad daylight.

Bergquist, a regular at the reserve, told the Miami Herald that until Saturday he had only caught glimpses of a motionless Fabio basking in the sun.

“I’ve seen many [others] cross trails, but never a really huge one,” Bergquist said. “I was in awe.”

Bergquist said Fabio, who was named by locals, measures at least 12 feet. He’s believed to be one of the biggest, if not the biggest alligator in the reserve.

For comparison, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the longest alligator documented in Florida measured 14 feet, 3-1/2 inches.

The weight record, for a different gator, is 1,043 pounds.

The Circle B Bar Reserve is a 1,267-acre parcel of restored and protected wetlands near Lakeland.