A trip to Florida sounds good right about now. The Ohio State men’s golf team gets to take that trip as it travels to Gainesville, Fla. for the Gator Invitational. The 54-hole tournament begins at 8 a.m. tomorrow and concludes on Sunday.

“I’m excited to go down there, I hope the other guys are too,” senior Zach Doran said. “Snow isn’t exactly conducive to golf.”

Coach Jim Brown agrees with Doran.

“Everyone is excited to go down there,” Brown said. “But it’s hard to go down there and play well. We will get practice rounds in when we get there and hopefully improve each day.”

Columbus weather conditions this time of year aren’t ideal for golf. The team has had to make do and practice at many different locations to compensate for the weather.

Brown said the team has been practicing at the French Field House, the Golf Dome, the pro shop at the Scarlet and Gray Golf Course and in the winter hitting stalls at the Scioto Country Club.

“That’s as good as it gets up here,” junior Scott Anderson said.

The Gator Invitational is hosted by the University of Florida, and the rest of the field consists of Alabama, Alabama-Birmingham, Baylor, Central Florida, College of Charleston, Florida State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Kentucky, Louisiana State, North Florida, Purdue and Tennessee. Most of these teams have been playing and practicing all winter.

OSU and Purdue will be the only northern schools in the tournament.

Having had much less practice time outdoors than the southern schools, the team understands the difficulty in going down to Gainesville and competing at the top of its game.

“If we go out and play as good as we can and finish in the upper half, that’s a real nice job because all the other teams have been playing all winter,” Brown said.

Anderson agrees with his coach.

“We can play well if we stay confident,” Anderson said. “But, it’s tough to come out of the snow ready to play well.”

Along with Doran and Anderson, Brown said he will use seniors Kevin Hall and Justin Collins in the tournament. Freshman Colin Biles will also compete.

As for the rest of its season, the golf team wants to accomplish what all OSU teams set out to do.

“Every year our goal is to win the Big Ten and qualify for the NCAA championships,” Brown said.

Doran said winning the league is within this team’s reach.

“We are good enough to win the Big Ten,” Doran said. “We had a disappointing fall, but we will have a better spring.”

Brown said Minnesota and Illinois have strong teams, and there are four or five other teams right behind them.

“We are right there in that group,” Brown said. “If we continue to improve we can reach the top.”

OSU will compete in one other tournament, the Matlock Classic, during the winter months. The tournament will take place Feb. 16-17 in Lakeland, Fla.