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PENSACOLA, Fla. – The 13th-ranked UWF men's golf team has won the Gulf South Conference title a record 18 times since joining the league 26 years ago in 1995. The 2022 squad will look to add to the distinguished history – and current streak of eight-consecutive crowns – but will do so not as the prohibitive favorite, but as the second seed behind third-ranked Lee.
UWF has competed in nine events this season and finished in the top eight in every one. The team's highest finishes are three fourth place efforts. The Argonauts have a 289.56 stroke average which is currently sixth in program history.
Individually, an Argo has won the medalist title 13 times, most recently last year by sophomore
Elias Haavisto in a GSC record 203, 13-under-par. He is looking to become the third-consecutive repeat winner.
UWF will be paired with Lee and No. 28 West Georgia in Friday's play, which begins off No. 1 at 8:15 a.m. The field will play 36 holes on Friday and 18 on Saturday. The men's tournament is being played on the RTJ Golf Trail at Magnolia Grove Crossings Course for the third-consecutive championship. There wasn't a tournament in 2020.
The course will play to a par 72 and a length of 7,212 yards.
2022 UWF Lineup in 1-5 order
Elias Haavisto
So., Kotka, Finland
Golfstat Rating: 20th in NCAA; 4th in GSC
2022: 4th in the GSC with a 71.1 stroke avg. which is currently fourth in UWF single-season history ... Has four top-5 finishes & leads the GSC with nine top-20 finishes ... Has 7 rounds in the 60s & 18 at par or better ... All 27 rounds have been used in the team score.
Career: 2020 GCAA D3 Phil Mickelson Outstanding Freshman Award while at Averett University … Has a 71.7 stroke average in two seasons at UWF, ranking third behind Chandler Blanchet (70.94 from 2015-18) and Kyle Scott (71.55 from 2007-09).
GSC Championship History
2021 – 67-65-71=203, 1st – Defending GSC Champion (GSC record 203, 13-under-par in 2021)
Cameron Bonner
Jr., Pensacola, Fla.
Golfstat Rating: 123rd in NCAA; 11th in GSC
2022: 2nd on the team & 11th in the GSC with a 72.78 stroke avg. (72.0 in the Spring) ... Tied for 3rd in the GSC with 7 top-20 finishes ... Has two rounds in the 60s & nine at par or better.
Career: 74.62 career stroke average in four seasons at UWF … Had his two best seasons the past two years, posting a 74.33 last year and a 72.78 this year … Nine of his 18 career rounds at par or better have come this season.
GSC Championship History
2021 – 73-74-79=226, t-30th
Chris Ayers
Sr., Wethersfield, Conn.
Golfstat Rating: 452nd in NCAA; 32nd in GSC
2022: 74.78 stroke avg. in his first season at UWF as a grad transfer ... One round in the 60s & four at par or better ... Tied for 4th at the Bobcat Invitational ... 74.2 stroke avg. in the Spring.
Career: Three-year letter winner (2 seasons & 2019-20 COVID year) at Old Dominion after two years (one season & a redshirt) at Midland College … Compiled a 73.3 stroke average over 29 rounds in three seasons at ODU … Won the 2018 WJCAC Championship as a redshirt freshman with back-to-back 67s.
Felipe Garces Garzon
Jr., Quito, Ecuador
Golfstat Rating: 247th in NCAA; 13th in GSC
2022: 3rd on the team & 13th in the GCS with a 73.2 stroke avg. ... Two rounds in the 60s & three at par or better ... Three top-20 finishes.
Career: Has a 73.48 stroke average in 29 rounds over two seasons at UWF … 2021 NCAA Individual Runner Up … Played his first two seasons at Newberry from 2018-20 where he compiled a 73.94 stroke average.
Patrick Poate
Grad., Niceville, Fla.
Golfstat Rating: 279th in NCAA; 20th in GSC
2022: 5th on the team with a 73.94 stroke avg. (73.7 in the Spring) ... One round in the 60s & two at par or better - all coming in the Spring.
Career: 74.33 stroke avg. in three seasons at FAU, ranking him sixth all-time … Finished 55th in the 2018 C-USA Championship as a freshman and 33rd in the 2019 event.
Did You Know: UWF and a UWF student-athlete hold every GSC Championship record listed in the league record book. Last year UWF established new conference marks for Low First Round (281, tied the 2017 UWF record), Second Round (274, bested the 1997 UWF team of 275) and 54-Hole (840, broke the 42-year mark of 850 by 1979 Nicholls State).
