Sierra Brooks, as usual, led the UF women’s golf team into battle on Friday at the NCAA Championships in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Florida didn’t perform great or poor, settling in right into a tie for 10th place with Washington at 15 over in the 24-team field after Day 1.
USC and Alabama ruled the first round, finishing at 3 over and 4 over, respectively. UCLA (6 over), Kent State (8 over) and Duke (10 over) complete the top five.
Closing at 1 over, sophomore transfer Brooks finished in a tie for 19th, by far the best by any Florida player in the tournament.
“Knowing (Brooks), I know she wants more than that,” UF coach Emily Glaser said in a release. “At the same time, I think she should take the positives away from today and spearhead that into the rest of the week.”
Brooks’ teammates, however, couldn’t pick up the slack.
The closest scoring Gators, sophomore Marta Perez and redshirt freshman Elin Esborn, both carded a 4 over. That would put them in a tie for 51st.
Senior Taylor Tomlinson and freshman Addie Baggarly both shot a 6 over and concluded the round in a tie for 76th.
Every Gator struggled with hole 10. Esborn at least shot par on the hole, but every other member of the team registered bogey or worse.
Tomlinson was on track for a decent score after shooting even on the front nine, but she shot a triple bogey on hole 10 that set her behind for the rest of the day. The senior closed out the back nine with 4 bogeys and a birdie.
Baggarly had double bogeys on holes 7 and 10, which also made it difficult for her to keep up with the pack.
The wind was a constant factor for the Gators, as noted by Glaser.
"Hopefully, you come out feeling like you are still in the groove and get some holes in before the wind starts to blow,” Glaser said. “It might blow a little bit at the beginning but will really start to pick up at the end.”
The Gators tee off tomorrow beginning at 9:36 a.m. They will be paired with Arizona State and Northwestern.
You can follow Chris O’Brien on Twitter @THEChrisOB and contact him at cobrien@alligator.org.
Sophomore Sierra Brooks paced Florida with an even par at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic over the weekend.
