NCAA berth on the line in Alabama: Five things to know about ASUN men's golf tournament
The University of North Florida Ospreys will be going for their second ASUN men’s golf title and fourth in six years beginning on Sunday when they open play in the conference championship at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Highland Oaks Course in Dothan, Ala.
On paper, it should be a pitched battle among three Florida schools.
UNF enters the tournament 30th in the nation on the most recent Spikemark Rankings, the highest of any ASUN team. Florida Gulf Coast is 62nd and Stetson is 63rd.
The next highest-ranked ASUN team is Lipscomb at 85th. Jacksonville University is 128th.
Two players are among the top 50 individually, UNF senior and three-time ASUN player of the year Nick Gabrelcik at No. 9 and Stetson sophomore Dominic Clemons at No. 48.
Here are five things to watch as the ASUN teams battle for the conference title and automatic NCAA tournament bid.
Ospreys bring experience to the table
The most recent starting lineup for UNF was Gabrelcik, fellow seniors Robbie Higgins and Davis Lee (a Ponte Vedra High graduate) and juniors Jason Duff (Menendez) and Andrew Riley (Creekside).
“Probably the most experienced team I’ve had,” said coach Scott Schroeder.
The Ospreys have been solid but not spectacular this season, with nine of 11 finishes fifth or higher, including all five Fall tournaments and the first three of the spring. They finished second in the Sea Best Invitational and the Gator Invitational, topped both times by the defending national champion Florida Gators.
UNF hasn’t won a team title since the fall of 2022 at the Quail Valley Collegiate in Vero Beach, a stretch of 21 tournaments. But the Ospreys have been in the mix most of the time, with 15 top-fives during that span.
Gabrelcik won the individual title at the Gator Invitational for his ninth career college championship and Higgins won the Sea Best Invitational.
JU Dolphins post best spring finish
Jacksonville University is less experienced and its most recent lineup included freshman Jackson Klauk, a Nease graduate, and sophomore Daniel Montalvo.
Senior Alexandre Vandermorten, who has two career top-10s in the ASUN tournament, is coming off an ASUN Player of the Week award on March 21. Also in the lineup for the last tournament were graduate student Josef Hacker and junior Jack Neill.
The Dolphins are coming off their best finish of the spring season, a tie for ninth at the UNC-Wilmington Seahawk Invitational. Before that, JU had not finished higher than 11th in five consecutive tournaments since a fifth last fall.
Brody Stevenson contributing for FGCU
Bartram Trail graduate Brody Stevenson has been a key player for Florida Gulf Coast this season and has finished 23rd or higher in his last three starts, capped by a tie for fourth in the Aggie Invitational last week.
Stevenson shot 69 in the final round at the Traditions Golf Club in Byan, Texas, knocking nine shots off his opening 78. He moved up 14 spots.
Stevenson won the St. Augustine Amateur last fall with a final-round 65.
Watch out for the Hatters
Stetson has been playing well this spring and while its schedule hasn’t been as difficult as UNF’s, the Hatters have won twice and finished among the top-five in five of six tournaments.
Sophomore Dominic Clemons has earned two of the last three ASUN player of the week awards and has three for the spring season. He shot 11-under par last week at the Tiger Intercollegiate, with an opening round of 64.
Highland Oaks offers tough test
The ASUN moves from one Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail venue in 2023 to another in Highland Oaks.
The teams will play on the Highlands and Magnolia nines of the 27-hole course. Highlands is an open layout with lakes in play on four holes. Magnolia is so named for the numerous trees of that type throughout the nine holes.
The last two years of holding the ASUN tournament in Alabama came after 13 of 14 years when the tournament was played in Georgia, either at the Chateau Elan Resort in Braswell, or the University of Georgia course. The last time the ASUN tournament was played in Florida was in 2006 when JU won at the Eagle Creek Golf Club in Orlando.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: ASUN men's golf: Five things to know as UNF, JU compete in Alabama
