Tyson Alexander’s Run Ends at U.S. Open Championship

University of Florida golfer Tyson Alexander’s (Gainesville, Fla.) run at the 109th U.S. Open Championship came to an end on Saturday, after shooting a five-over par 75 in the second round. He totaled eight-over par 148 (73-75) and missed the cut by four strokes at Bethpage State Park Black Course in Farmingdale, NY.

Alexander finished in a tie for 108th, and was the sixth-best amateur in the field. After rain delayed the first round, Alexander shot three-over par 73 on Friday morning and began his second round on hole 10 Friday evening. He sat at four-over par when play was suspended for the night.

Full story at Gator Zone

Tyson Alexander Off to Good Start in 09 US Open Championship

UF Golfer, Tyson Alexander, is off to an excellent start in the 2009 U.S. Open Championship.  He is the third generation in his family to play in the US Open. More than 750 golfers across the country were competing in qualifiers the past few weeks to earn one of the 63 remaining spots in the field.

Now that he has made the trip he’s making sure he makes the most out of it.  Tyson’s father played in two U.S. Opens, once after winning the U.S. Amateur in 1986 and a second time in 1994. Skip Alexander played in the U.S. Open five times, between 1946 and 1950, finishing as high as 11th (1948).

Tyson is the only UF player to qualify for the Open. Four others tried.

Currently Tyson is Even for the day after playing 9 holes.  We will continue to bring you updated information.

Update: Tyson is +3 after completion of Round 1 and sits tied for 54th.

Billy Horschel Named to 2009 All-Nicklaus Team

Recent University of Florida graduate Billy Horschel (Grant, Fla.) was named to the 2009 All-Nicklaus Team, announced by the Golf Coaches Asso­ciation of America. The 20 honorees from Division I, II, III and the NAIA were recognized for their outstanding play during the past collegiate season.

The All-Nicklaus Team was created in 2008, and is not only named for history’s greatest player but also a long-time supporter of collegiate and amateur golf. Jack Nicklaus, a Big Ten and NCAA Champion at The Ohio State University, helped inspire and create the Jack Nicklaus Award in 1988. The Nicklaus Award is annually given to the top collegiate men’s golfer in Division I, II, III and the NAIA.

After the NCAA Championship in May, Horshel was named a first-team All-American for the third time, marking the fourth year in a row that he was named an All-American. He became the fifth Gator golfer to be named an All-American four times. Matt Every, Gary Koch and Camilo Villegas are the only other UF alumni to earn First Team honors three times, and Horschel is the only Gator to earn three First Team honors and a Second Team honor.

Full article on Gator Zone

2009 All-Nicklaus Team

Bennett Blakeman, Illinois Wesleyan

Jorge Campillo, Indiana

Bud Cauley, Alabama

Sam Cyr, Point Loma Nazarene

Matt Ewald, Washburn

Mitchell Fedorka, La Verne

Rickie Fowler, Oklahoma State

Matthew Giles, Southern California

Matt Hill, NC State

Morgan Hoffmann, Oklahoma State

Billy Horschel, Florida

Jake Koppenberg, Western Washington

Anthony Michael, Oklahoma City

Cory Renfrew, British Columbia

Josh Schrader, Methodist

Kyle Stanley, Clemson

Nick Taylor, Washington

Cameron Tringale, Georgia Tech

Mike Van Sickle, Marquette

Brent Witcher, Valdosta State

Jan Downling Announced Women’s Golf Coach

Athletics Director Jeremy Foley announced Jan Dowling as the University of Florida’s women’s golf coach. Dowling comes to UF after spending one season as an assistant coach at Duke University and two seasons as an assistant at Kent State University. She also played as a professional for almost three years before entering the collegiate coaching ranks.

“Throughout this search, Jan Dowling’s name kept coming up as a fast-rising coaching talent. She has solid credentials as a player and as a coach. Florida’s had success developing young, gifted coaches and Jan certainly fits that model. Jan loves coaching and loves the game of golf. She is confident that she can lead this program and recruit talented student-athletes to Florida,” Foley said. “We believe that Jan will be very successful at Florida.”

“I’d like to thank Mr. Foley for this tremendous opportunity,” Dowling said. “There are currently a lot of talented players at Florida and we are going to create a team atmosphere to build on this and get the program back into national championship contention year in and year out. We have every resource imaginable at the University of Florida which will attract elite student-athletes. Gainesville is a wonderful place to live and makes UF a great total package. I’m also looking forward to working with everyone at UF’s Athletic Association.

Full article at Gator Zone