Despite not winning the tournament, the UF women's golf team will return to Gainesville a better squad.
The No. 30 Gators came in as the top-ranked team participating in the Kiawah Island Intercollegiate and finished in fourth place after Tuesday's final round.
While it may seem disappointing, members of the team say it was another experience to learn from.
UF finished the tournament with a score of 48 over par, but the Gators shot their best round of golf Tuesday, finishing the day at 12 over par.
"We found some positive things from this tournament," sophomore Jessica Yadloczky said. "I definitely look at it with the glass half full."
Yadloczky turned in three more rounds of solid golf this week and had the third-best individual score of the tournament to show for it. She shot 2 over par in the final round, which gave her an individual score of 4 over par for the event.
The sophomore attributed her success to her hard work ethic.
"I work really, really hard off the course as well as on my mental game," she said. "I think that pulls me through when times are tough."
Another good sign for the Gators was the third-round performance of freshman Evan Jensen. She shot 4 under par on Tuesday, the lowest single-round score for the team this week.
"I just think my confidence level was really high today," Jensen said.
Meanwhile, usually reliable freshman Andrea Watts struggled in the final round. After a good round Monday, she shot 9 over par Tuesday.
Up-and-down performances like Watts' third round are something the team must learn from, coach Jill Briles-Hinton said.
"We just got down when things weren't going our way, and you can't do that," Briles-Hinton said. "You have to think positive, you've got to forget about what happened and you have to keep persevering."
UF will have until March 8, the start of the UCF Challenge in Orlando, to learn and build from the lessons they learned this week.
