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No. 4 Men’s Golf falls to No. 7 Florida, 3-2, in NCAA Quarterfinals
05.27.2025 | Men's Golf
Juniors Luke Potter and Tommy Morrison earned individual match wins for the Longhorns on Tuesday.
CARLSBAD, Calif. — The No. 4 Texas Men's Golf team dropped a 3-2 decision to No. 7 Florida on Tuesday morning in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Match Play Championship at Omni La Costa. Juniors Luke Potter and Tommy Morrison earned the two points for the Longhorns during Tuesday's match.
The No. 6 seed in the match-play portion of the tournament, Texas took the No. 3 seed Florida down to the wire as the final individual match advanced to the 18th hole before the Gators sealed their win. Potter put the Longhorns on the board with an impressive 4&3 victory over Jack Turner. Morrison then extended the lead to 2-0 following his 1-up win against Luke Poulter. The Gators rallied to even the match score at 2-2, after Zack Swanwick posted a 2&1 victory over freshman Daniel Bennett and Matthew Kress earned a 3&1 win against sophomore Jack Gilbert.
In the decisive individual match, junior Christiaan Maas was all-square through 16 holes against Ian Gilligan. Gilligan went 1-up on hole 8 (17th hole of the match) and then closed out the 1-up victory when both players made par on hole 9 (18th hole of the match).
"I knew coming in that it was going to be a great match playing the SEC Champions in Florida, but I really thought we could get them," Texas head coach John Fields said. "A couple things at the end went the wrong direction. Daniel Bennett had a guy close him out by making two 30-footers back-to-back, when he was even with the guy and kind of had him on the ropes. That's golf."
With their tie for fifth in this year's national championship, the Longhorns recorded their 11th top-five finish at the NCAA Championship under the direction of 28th-year head coach John Fields. Texas claimed five team titles and 10 top-three finishes during its 13 stroke-play events of the 2024-25 season.
UT has advanced to NCAA Match Play (final eight teams) in eight of the last 13 opportunities (2012-13-15-16-18-19-22-25), dating back to the 2012 NCAA Championship. Texas and Illinois are the only two Division I men's programs to reach Match Play in at least eight of the last 13 opportunities. The 2020 tourney was canceled due to COVID-19. In addition, Texas and Virginia are the only two schools to have their men's AND women's programs advance to the Match Play portion of the NCAA Championship this year.
"I wouldn't say that overall we had our best stuff this week," Fields continued. "I'm looking forward to next year with the knowledge that these guys are now seasoned athletes at Texas that know what it takes to win. We won five times this year and you have to learn how to deal with success, and maybe we didn't do as good of a job as we could have. The truth is we were in the hunt and had a chance, and if a couple putts or shots go our way it's a totally different situation. I'm so happy with our fans that came out and supported us. Texas Golf is alive and well and it's a breathing being, and I'm seriously proud to be part of it and our guys are too. I love what they did and I love what we have coming in next year. We know it's going to be a great year and these guys are going to have to fight it out, use their talent at the high level that they can and I like our chances going into next year.
The 2025 NCAA Championship will continue with semifinals later this afternoon and conclude with the championship match on Wednesday, May 28.
Texas vs. Florida Recap
- Junior Luke Potter posted a 4&3 victory over Jack Turner. Starting on hole 10, Potter won holes 12, 13, 14 and 15 to build a 4-up cushion through six holes. Turner won hole 2 to get to within 3-down through 11 holes, before Potter responded with a win on 3 to push the lead back to 4-up through 12 holes. The two players halved the next three holes to close out the 4&3 win for Potter.
- Junior Tommy Morrison recorded a 1-up win against Luke Poulter. Starting on hole 10, Morrison won the opening hole before Poulter won holes 12 and 14 to take a 1-up advantage after five holes. Morrison won holes 15, 16 and 18 to build a 2-up lead at the turn. Poulter responded by winning holes 1 and 2 to even the match. The match remained all-square through 15 holes, before Morrison won hole 7 to go 1-up. The two players halved the final two holes to finish off the 1-up victory for Morrison.
- Freshman Daniel Bennett dropped a 2&1 decision to Zack Swanwick. Starting on hole 10, Bennett won hole 12 but Swanwick answered by winning hole 13. Bennett won hole 16 and maintained a 1-up lead at the turn. Swanwick won holes 1, 2 and 4 to take a 2-up advantage through 13 holes. Bennett responded by winning holes 5 and 6 to pull even. Swanwick closed out the match by winning holes 7 and 8 to post a 2&1 victory.
- Sophomore Jack Gilbert lost a 3&1 decision to Matthew Kress. Starting on hole 10, Kress won holes 11 and 13 to build a 2-up lead through four holes. Gilbert won hole 14 but Kress responded with a win on hole 15. Gilbert followed by winning holes 16 and 18 to even the match at the turn. Kress won holes 2 and 3 to take a 2-up lead through 12 holes. The two players halved the next four holes before Kress closed out his 3&1 victory with a win on hole 8.
- Junior Christiaan Maas dropped a 1-up decision to Ian Gilligan. Starting on hole 10, Maas won holes 10 and 11 but Gilligan answered by winning holes 13 and 14 to even the match. Maas won holes 17 and 1 to take a 2-up advantage through 10 holes. Gilligan responded with wins on holes 2 and 3 to square the match through 12 holes. The two players halved the next four holes and the match was all-square through 16 holes. Gilligan earned a win on hole 8 to take a 1-up lead going into the final hole (9th hole), and the two players halved the hole to close out Gilligan's 1-up victory.
Players Mentioned
