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Defending national champion Florida Gators lead field for JU's Sea Best Invitational

Garry Smits, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union
·2 min read
University of Florida golfer Fred Biondi shared first place with teammate Ricky Castillo on Tuesday in the 2023 Sea Best Invitational, at the TPC Sawgrass Dye's Valley.
University of Florida golfer Fred Biondi shared first place with teammate Ricky Castillo on Tuesday in the 2023 Sea Best Invitational, at the TPC Sawgrass Dye's Valley.

The college golf spring season opens on the First Coast as usual with the Sea Best Invitational, hosted by Jacksonville University on Monday and Tuesday.

Leading the 15-team field at the TPC Sawgrass Dye's Valley Course will be defending national champion Florida — which also is the two-time defending champion of the Sea Best. Fred Biondi and Ricky Castillo, who are now playing on the Korn Ferry Tour, tied for first last year and shared medalist honors. Giovanni Manzoni finished third and Miguel Leal tied for fifth.

Florida has won the Sea Best six times since 2011.

Also in the field with the Gators and the host Dolphins are the University of North Florida, UCF, Florida Atlantic, Florida Gulf Coast, Louisville, Texas-San Antonio, Lipscomb, Kennesaw, Louisiana Tech, Campbell, Cal-Poly, Liberty and USC-Upstate.

The teams will play 36 holes on Monday and 18 on Tuesday.

UNF's event coming up

It will be UNF's turn to host a tournament March 9-11 with The Hayt, at the Sawgrass County Club. There will be one round three days in a row.

Heading the field, along with the host team and JU, will be Alabama, Duke, North Carolina, Ohio State, Virginia, Liberty, Louisville, UCF, South Florida, Texas-San Antonio, Coastal Carolina and Charlotte.

Vanderbilt won the tournament last year, with UNF finishing second.

FSGA results

Tim Cobb of St. Augustine scored 78 points under a Stableford format to win the Mid-Amateur division of a Florida State Golf Association Winter Series event at Dubsdread in Orlando. Brian King of Fernandina Beach (57) was third in the Senior Division first flight and Jeff Kauffman (64) was fifth in the Senior Division second flight. ... Jack Cole of St. Augustine shot 8-over 152 at the Ocala Golf Club to tie for fourth in the boys 11-12 division of the Florida Junior Tour Ocala Open. Jay Huntley (155) of Jacksonville Beach finished solo eighth. Lily Wachter of St. Augustine (155) was solo fifth in the girls 11-12 division. ... Stella Moritz of Ponte Vedra Beach (164) finished alone in fifth in the girls 13-15 division of the FJT Palm Harbor Open in Palm Coast.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Florida Gators seek seventh Sea Best Invitational title at Dye's Valley