Results
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The University of North Florida golf team is bunched in a group with two other teams in sixth place after one day of play at the John Hayt Collegiate Invitational, opening up with a team score of 296 (+8) at Sawgrass Country Club.
The Ospreys – and the rest of the field – find themselves looking up at defending champion Alabama, which shot a 2-over-par 290 on Sunday and sits one stroke ahead of fellow SEC competitor Tennessee. Pepperdine (294), UCLA (295), Charlotte (295) round out the leaderboard heading into Tuesday’s second round of play.
UNF’s Michael O’Neal is one stroke off the pace set by Georgia State’s Joel Sjoholm and tied with UCLA’s Jason Kang at 2-under-par.
O’Neal cruised through his day with four birdies and two bogeys, finally closing it out with four-straight pars for UNF’s lowest opening round. O’Neal fell victim to the par-4 second hole for his first bogey of the day. As a team UNF finished 7-over-par on the second hole. Major Forbess was the only Osprey to walk away from the hole with a par.
O’Neal’s highlights on the day included a two-putt birdie on the eighth hole as well as 15-foot putt for birdie on No. 13.
After cracking the leaderboard midway through the round on Sunday, Forbess took a rollercoaster ride through the back nine, recording three birdies to go along with a double bogey and three bogeys. Forbess closed his round out with a pair of bogeys on 17 and 18 after a birdie on 16 to shoot 73. He is tied for 17th heading into Monday’s second round.
After beginning his day with a birdie, then following that up with an eight on No. 2, Jeff Dennis settled in, recording a 3-over-par 75 to tie for 32nd. He is one stroke ahead of a group that includes defending champion Kevin Chappell of UCLA.
Jordan Gibb (78) and Chris Kennedy (79) rounded out the team scoring for UNF, while Jacob Davidson (77) and J.C. Horne (78) played as individuals for the Ospreys.
O’Neal is one of seven players under par on a day where the winds were calmer than normal for a February day in North Florida, and temperatures were ideal for scoring. The weather is expected to take a turn for the worse on Monday with a line of thunderstorms rolling in from the west over night.
Second round play at the John Hayt Collegiate Championship starts Monday at 8 a.m.
Notables: Weather conditions were ideal for scoring on Sunday with winds blowing out of the south at less than 10 miles per hour and temperatures climbing into the 70s by the end of the round … NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino was spotted on the course today checking out all of the action … Marino played in the college-am on Saturday with a group that included UNF’s Chris Kennedy.
Quotables
Tennessee head coach Jim Kelson
“We played well today. We dropped a few strokes toward the end, but there are some tough holes at the end of this course. This is a good tournament for us and we always seem to play well here. The winds kicked up a little bit today and this will be a challenging test as the tournament goes on.”
Alabama head coach Jay Seawall
“This was a nice start for us. Sawgrass Country Club is always tough when the wind blows, I don’t care what the temperature is like. This course has been good to us over the years, but that’s a credit to our guys. It sets up well for us, but you have to come here with a good attitude as well.”
UNF head coach Scott Schroeder
Michael O’Neal had a very good day for us and Major Forbess put together his best round as college player. Today was a good start for both of them. Jeff Dennis played well except for a lapse at No 2, and the our other two guys did not play as well as they are capable of. We are in a good position to play well in this tournament and maybe in position to try to win it.
UNF’s Michael O’Neal
“I played steady today. The wind was blowing in the opposite direction than we are used to it blowing out here. I just played toward the middle of the greens and didn’t have any testy par putts. Being that this is my last time playing this tournament, this means more to me than any other tournament to me.”