April 18, 1999

LEXINGTON, Kty. – Florida captured its second golf title at theChampionTrace Golf Club in as many tries and Gator freshman Camilo Benedetti shot a3-over 75 in the final round to win the individual title by two strokes at the1999 Southeastern Conference Championships on Sunday.

Kentucky used a three-day total of 946 to finish in ninth place, itsbest finish since 1993 when the Wildcats finished ninth in Jacksonville, Fla.

“We had high hopes coming into the tournament,” said UK coach SteveSmith. “Any home advantage we had was thrown out with the wind and the weatherconditions we endured. We just played along with everyone else but Im stillpleased with our performance overall.”

Three Wildcats posted rounds in the 70s, led by senior Ron Laymans2-over 74. Freshman John Beckett tallied a 75 and the Cats top golfer, seniorJeremy Langley, carded a 79. The Cats finished just one stroke behindeighth-place Alabama, which slipped from seventh place after Saturdays round.

Langley entered No. 18 just 4-over for the day, but hit into the laketwice and took a triple-bogey seven to finish with an 81-73-79–233, 17strokesover par, good for 21st in the tournament.The Gators last visit to Champion Trace, formerly known as The Champions,ended with the 1993 NCAA Championship. This weekend, Florida used a 54-holetotal of 901 to hold off runner-up Georgia by seven strokes to win the Gators13th SEC title in 63 years.

“I need to buy a lot here,” said UF coach Buddy Alexander, who has nowcoached the Gators to six SEC Championships in 12 seasons. “Good thingsdefinitely happen for us when we play at Champion Trace. We won the nationalchampionship here and then we came in here this week as big underdogs toGeorgia. I dont think I can afford any of these lots but I may have to lookaround.”

With overcast skies and a high temperature of 52, Benedetti, thesecond-round leader, became the first Florida freshman to win the SEC title inschool history.

“Its awesome,” said Benedetti, a native of Mendellin, Columbia. “ButIm not surprised. I felt like I was prepared and I knew I could win atournament.”Benedetti, who shot a tournament-best 69 on Saturday to grab a three-shotlead,finished the front nine at 2-over while South Carolinas Kyle Thompson was2-under through the first nine holes to cut the lead to one. Benedetti thenbirdied the 10th and 14th holes while Thompson finished the day with a 2-over74. Benedetti began No. 18 at even par with a five-stroke lead, but like UKsLangley, his tee shot found the water and he took a triple-bogey seven on thetournaments toughest hole.

“I new there was a lot of pressure but I just tried to stay calm and hit mydriver,” Benedetti said. “I picked out a small target and obviously didnt hitit.”

He finished the tournament 2-over with a 74-69-75–218, picking up theslack for teammate Steve Scott, a tournament favorite, who finished 20 shotsover par with a 236.

“Hes a player,” Coach Alexander said, referring to Benedetti. “As Isaid earlier in the week, you may not know who he is now but you will. Today,he proved he could play with the best in the country. He has a lot ofdesire, alot of heart and hes very focused.”

Benedetti is the fourth SEC medallist since Alexander begancoaching atUF in 1988.

The Gators had to hold off No. 1-ranked Georgia, the defendingchampionand the first-round leader. Heading into the final round, Georgia andMississippi State were tied for second, 12 strokes behind the Gators, butGeorgia made up four strokes on the front nine before shooting a three-daytotal of 908 to finish as runner-up.South Carolina made a push for second-place honors, duplicating Georgias featwith a final-round total of 293. Gamecock Kyle Thompson shot a 3-over 74 finalround to finish second in the tournament with a 75-71-74–220. The Gamecockscarded a three-day total of 910 to take third place.Only three golfers recorded subpar rounds on Sunday, four on Saturday and noneon Friday due to the adverse weather conditions.

State shot a 921 to finished fourth and Tennessee was fifth at 929.Auburn and LSU tied for sixth at 932 while Alabama ended eighth (945),Kentuckyninth (946), Ole Miss 10th (947), Arkansas 11th (954) and Vanderbilt 12th(972).

1999 SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

Champion Trace Golf Club

Par 72, 7,081 yards

Lexington, Ky.

SEC Team Standings — Final Results

Place Name Rd. 1 Rd. 2 Rd. 3 Total +/-1st Florida Steve Scott 81 77 78 236 +20 Camilo Benedetti 74 69 75 218 +2 Taylor Walsh 75 79 77 231 +15 Nick Gilliam 78 74 71 223 +7 Steve Bradley 81 75 75 231 +15 Totals 308 295 298 901 +37

2nd Georgia Nick Cassini 76 78 74 228 +12 Ryuji Imada 77 78 72 227 +11 Michael Morrison 79 78 71 228 +12 Mark Northey 75 78 80 233 +17 Jeremy Parrott DQ 74 76 312 +96 Totals 307 308 293 908 +44

3rd S. Carolina Kyle Thompson 75 71 74 220 +4 Mark Catalano 78 75 77 230 +14 Eric Ecker 82 74 73 229 +13 Stewart Ginn 84 81 75 240 +24 Daniel Brunson 84 78 71 233 +17 Totals 319 298 293 910 +46

4th Miss. State Alex Rocha 77 72 72 221 +5 Ben Smith 76 80 78 234 +18 Richard Barbles 85 77 80 242 +26 Michael Trailov 91 81 79 251 +35 Andy Kampen 77 71 77 225 +9 Totals 315 300 306 921 +57

5th Tennessee Derrick Centers 75 78 78 231 +15 Kevin Law 78 75 77 230 +14 Andrew Black 86 81 76 243 +27 Andy Brimer 83 78 77 238 +22 Jason Powell 85 75 72 232 +16 Totals 321 306 302 929 +65

t6th Auburn Scott Weatherly 81 81 73 235 +19 Billy Rowe 82 80 79 241 +25 Kevin Haefner 82 75 75 232 +16 Jon Rusk 83 80 72 235 +19 Will Swift 86 74 75 235 +19 Totals 328 309 295 932 +68

t6th LSU Jeremy Wilkinson 72 74 76 222 +6 Brett Hitchcock 82 72 77 231 +15 Mike Vallillo 80 85 77 242 +26 Travis Stewart 88 77 80 245 +29 Chris Loupe 87 83 75 245 +29 Totals 321 306 305 932 +68

8th Alabama Jan-Are Larsen 79 79 75 233 +17 Freeman Fite 84 84 83 251 +35 Chip Zahn 89 71 81 241 +25 Brian Wright 82 74 83 239 +23 Markus Agren 85 75 77 237 +21 Totals 330 299 316 945 +81

9th Kentucky Jeremy Langley 81 73 79 233 +17 Ron Layman 84 77 74 235 +19 John Beckett 89 78 75 242 +26 Jay Knight 78 82 81 241 +25 Chris Mueller 84 89 82 255 +39 Totals 327 310 309 946 +82

10th Ole Miss Haymes Snedeker 80 80 79 239 +23 Jon Bartlett 77 77 76 230 +14 Chris Malloy 85 78 80 243 +27 Phil Caravia 90 81 79 250 +34 Troy Muller 84 77 75 236 +20 Totals 326 312 309 947 +83

11th Arkansas Rich Morris 80 75 78 233 +17 Craig Lile 81 77 72 230 +14 Nigel Herd 91 77 74 242 +26 Chris Speight 90 85 84 259 +43 Stephen Phaup 83 83 84 250 +34 Totals 334 312 308 954 +90

12th Vanderbilt Ryan Grant 87 86 80 253 +37 James McIntosh 85 77 79 241 +25 Andy Bowers 83 81 80 244 +28 Ned Michaels 83 77 83 243 +27 Miguel Coles 81 86 80 247 +31 Totals 332 321 319 972 +08

SEC Individual Standings — Final Round

Name, School                         ResultsCamilo Benedetti, Florida          74-69-75218 Kyle Thompson, South Carolina      75-71-74220 Alex Rocha, Mississippi St.        77-72-72221 Jeremy Wilkinson, LSU              72-74-76222 Nick Gilliam, Florida              78-74-71223 Andy Kampen, Mississippi St.       77-71-77225 Ryuji Imada, Georgia               77-78-72227 Michael Morrison, Georgia          79-78-71228 Nick Cassini, Georgia              76-78-74228 Eric Ecker, South Carolina         82-74-73229 Craig Lile, Arkansas               81-77-72230 Jon Bartlett, Mississippi          77-77-76230 Mark Catalano, South Carolina      78-75-77230 Kevin Law, Tennessee               78-75-77230 Brett Hitchcock, LSU               82-72-77231 Derrick Centers, Tennessee         75-78-78231 Steve Bradley, Florida             81-75-75231 Taylor Walsh, Florida              75-79-77231 Kevin Haefner, Auburn              82-75-75232 Jason Powell, Tennessee            85-75-72232 Rich Morris, Arkansas              80-75-78233 Jan-Are Larsen, Alabama            79-79-75233 Jeremy Langley, Kentucky           81-73-79233 Daniel Brunson, South Carolina     84-78-71233 Mark Northey, Georgia              75-78-80233 Ben Smith, Mississippi St.         76-80-78234 Jon Rusk, Auburn                   83-80-72235 Scott Weatherly, Auburn            81-81-73235 Ron Layman, Kentucky               84-77-74235 Will Swift, Auburn                 86-74-75235 Troy Muller, Mississippi           84-77-75236 Steve Scott, Florida               81-77-78236 Markus Agren, Alabama              85-75-77237 Andy Brimer, Tennessee             83-78-77238 Haymes Snedeker, Mississippi       80-80-79239 Brian Wright, Alabama              82-74-83239 Stewart Ginn, South Carolina       84-81-75240 James McIntosh, Vanderbilt         85-77-79241 Billy Rowe, Auburn                 82-80-79241 Chip Zahn, Alabama                 89-71-81241 Jay Knight, Kentucky               78-82-81241 Nigel Herd, Arkansas               91-77-74242 John Beckett, Kentucky             89-78-75242 Mike Vallillo, LSU                 80-85-77242 Richard Barbles, Mississippi St.   85-77-80242 Chris Malloy, Mississippi          85-78-80243 Ned Michaels, Vanderbilt           83-77-83243 Andrew Black, Tennessee            86-81-76243 Andy Bowers, Vanderbilt            83-81-80244 Chris Loupe, LSU                   87-83-75245 Travis Stewart, LSU                88-77-80245 Miguel Coles, Vanderbilt           81-86-80247 Phil Caravia, Mississippi          90-81-79250 Stephen Phaup, Arkansas            83-83-84250 Freeman Fite, Alabama              84-84-83251 Michael Trailov, Mississippi St.   91-81-79251 Ryan Grant, Vanderbilt             87-86-80253 Chris Mueller, Kentucky            84-89-82255 Chris Speight, Arkansas            90-85-84259 Jeremy Parrott, Georgia            DQ-74-76N/A