JC Deacon’s new-look Gators push to defend men’s golf title

GAINESVILLE — A season after Florida’s scintillating national title run in 2023, men’s golf coach JC Deacon has never had as many options or faced as many decisions.

The Gators are deeper, potentially more talented, but not nearly as seasoned as the group that won the NCAA and SEC championships in the same season for the first time since 1993 while Fred Biondi also won the individual national title — a first for the program.

Deacon, armed with a 10-year contract extension, and the Gators have turned the page with a squad able to generate two comparable five-man lineups as UF’s national title defense in men’s golf begins in earnest at this week’s 47th Gators Invitational in Gainesville. The two-day event has moved to Friday and Saturday because of Sunday’s weather forecast.

“It keeps me on my toes a lot — and I love it,” fifth-year senior John Dubois told the Orlando Sentinel. “That competitive drive is what makes a good team. Every day I have to beat these guys if I even want a chance to be out there.”

Dubois and fellow returner Matt Kress were two of the five golfers who teed it up during the Gators’ championship assault last spring. Neither, though, boasts the starpower or resumé of the three departed Gators — Biondi, Ricky Castillo and Yuxin Lin.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Gators is a collection of players awaiting their opportunity or with something to prove.

“I feel like some people have counted us out just because we lost that big three last year —Fred, Yuxin and Ricky,” Kress said. “They were obviously great players and I don’t think we have the established players — if you want to call it that — on this team at the moment. We got a lot of really good players.

“I don’t think we have a lot to lose, we just have a lot to gain.”

Kress, a redshirt sophomore, pushes to build on his surprising emergence last spring, which came after Deacon inserted him into the starting lineup at the 2023 Gators Invite.

Kress’ work ethic, positivity and tenacity meshed best with the team’s veteran leaders.

“Ricky, Yuxin and Fred just admired him so much — and nothing to do with this golf,” Deacon said. “ I thought that was massive for our team dynamic and it worked. Was he our fifth best player last year? Maybe.

“But he was the best person for the job.”

Finding the right mix will be key during the coming months as Deacon aims to make the right moves again. UF has three more tournaments after the season’s sole home event this weekend and prior to the SEC championships April 24-28 in St. Simons Island, Ga.

A sluggish fall season featured several middling performances but also a victory as the class of the field at October’s Georgetown Invitational, led by Kress earning individual honors. Ranked No. 21 entering the spring, UF opened with its third consecutive victory against similarly overmatched competition at the Sea Best Invitational Jan. 30 at TPC Sawgrass.

“I don’t think we’ve had a tournament yet where all five guys have been firing on all cylinders,” Kress said. “But I don’t think anybody looks at us any differently and like, ‘Man, they should be winning.’ I don’t think we take it that way.

“We have confidence that we can perform at a high level.”

Dubois, who hails from Windermere, and Kress established their bonafides last spring.

Long Beach State transfer Ian Gilligan, the 2023 Big West Golfer of the Year, arrived in August with an impressive track record. The 20-year-old and Kress each boast a team-high five rounds in the 60s, including 67 and 69 by Gilligan during the final two rounds to finish runner-up at the Sea Best.

Redshirt freshman Luke Poulter, an Orlando native and son of English Ryder Cup hero Ian Poulter, has twice earned SEC Freshman of the Week, including after his career-best sixth-best finish at TPC Sawgrass.

Veterans Tyler Wilkes and Quentin Debove might be the most intriguing Gators. A native of Paris, Debove was UF’s top player in the fall 2022 but supplanted in the starting lineup by Kress. Wilkes, who is from Tampa, was a fixture in the lineup during the spring 2022.

Each senior is motivated and playing his best golf in some time.

“You’d be remiss to say that doesn’t at least drive some of them,” Kress said. “I live with Quen and I know for a fact that it drives me a little bit that he wasn’t in that spot last year to help us win. That’s what you need: You have to turn negatives into positives.”

Sophomore Parker Bell, who reached the semifinals of the 2023 U.S. Amateur, and freshman Jack Turner of Orlando tied for seventh at Sea Best also will push for one of the five coveted spots in the starting lineup.

“The thing that’s on our side the most is we got a ton of competition,” Deacon said. “That’s what’s probably going to drive us to be the best team we can be. We’ve got a long way to go, but this team’s got a chance to be a really good one.”

Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com