PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – For 15 holes on Tuesday, the Sea Best Invitational was a virtual deadlock between Texas A&M and the University of Florida.
The Aggies saved their best for the closing holes on the TPC Sawgrass Dye’s Valley Course.
Texas A&M, 20th in Golfweek’s rankings, placed all five starters inside the top 20 and at 13-under-par 827, defeated the Gators by two shots.
That two-shot difference was precisely the margin the Aggies had over Florida (ranked 38th by Golfweek) on the closing three holes of the Valley Course.
Led by Dan Erickson and Jimmy Lee, who played the last three holes at 1 under, with no bogeys, the Aggies shot 2 over as a team at Nos. 16, 17 and 18, while Florida was 4 over, with five bogeys and a double bogey.
“College golf tournaments come down to one or two shots so many times,” said Texas A&M coach J.T. Higgins. “We take pride in finishing strong and those holes were tough, especially [Nos.] 17 and 18 into the wind with tough pins.”
The Aggies negotiated those two holes at 3 over, while the Gators were 4 over.
“They finished strong and we didn’t,” Florida coach J.C. Deacon said.
Liberty finished a distant third at 1 over, North Carolina was fourth at 2 over and the University of North Florida fifth at 7 over. Florida and North Carolina are past team champions at the Sea Best Invitational, which is hosted by Jacksonville University.
The Gators swept the top two spots on the leaderboard as freshman Ricky Castillo had a bogey-free 65 to beat junior teammate John Axelsen (68) by three shots at 8-under 202. But another UF player didn’t appear on the board until Chris Nido in a tie for 32nd.
Contrast that with the Aggies’ depth: Walker Lee (68) and William Paysse (72) tied for third at 4-under 206, Erickson (68) tied for eighth at 2 under, Lee (69) tied for 12th at even par and Sam Bennett (69) tied for 19th at 1 over.
Erickson also took the team on his shoulders on the back nine. He was 2 over for the day through 11 holes, then birdied four of his next five.
Deacon was encouraged by his team’s performance, despite not coming through on the final holes. It was the first time the Gators had an under-par team score in a tournament since the 2019 NCAA regionals and it was their best finish since second in their own invitational earlier that season.
Florida had a dismal fall season, not finishing higher than seventh and shooting a cumulative 67-over par in four tournaments.
“I think we showed we’re a better team than that,” said Castillo, whose five birdie putts came on rolls of 8 feet or less.
“It was a step in the right direction,” Deacon said. “We’re disappointed we didn’t close better, but maybe the guys will use that to get even more p—– off.”
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