The Florida women's golf team must have really liked where the men wrapped up their season.
A day after the men's team finished its season with a second-place effort in Orlando, the women concluded their fall 2009 season with a runner-up finish at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown on Wednesday.
All of the Gators competitors finished in the top 20 at the tournament.
The squad shot the lowest score Wednesday with a nine-over 297. It carded a total of 883 (289-297-297, +19).
"We played a really great round today," coach Jan Dowling said. "We played through some tough conditions today, and we had the lowest round of the day today which was pretty fantastic. We had a great run at it today. We are going to use it as motivation, get ourselves through the winter and work hard to get into contention in the spring. It's a good finish to our fall."
Florida was just five strokes behind first-place Arizona, which totaled 14 over (284-294-300, 878).
Freshman Isabelle Lendl led UF for the second straight round this tournament. She ended in a tie for sixth with a 54-hole score of 220 (73-72-75, +4). Her last round of the tournament was her highest thus far. Going into the final three holes, Lendl was one-over par and went on to tally a double bogey, a bogey and a birdie.
"She had two great tournaments in a row and great plays," Dowling said. "She is thinking really well on the golf course and making good decisions...I am really proud of the way she played."
Lendl has had a top-10 finish in both of the tournaments she has competed in this season.
"She has been doing really well for us this week," Jensen said. "She came on strong and really played solid; she's helped us a lot. She brought positive energy and she is great to have on the team."
Freshman Amelia Lewis and junior Jessica Yadloczky tied for 11th place with a three-round score of 222 (+6). Yadloczky carded a two-over 74 in her final round with three birdies and five bogeys.
Lewis matched her Tuesday score in the final round with a three-over 75. She went two-under on her first eight holes and collected two more birdies, five bogeys and one double bogey.
Sophomore Marika Lendl had the best finish of her career Wednesday, tying for 14th place. She carded a 223 (73-74-76, +7).
Sophomore Evan Jensen finished just one stroke behind Marika with a 224 (75-76-73, +8), which translated into a tie for 17th place.
"We were a little let down, we all knew that we were right there in the middle of the competition, through out the round, so it was a little bit of a let down to find out we lost by a few," Jensen said. "But, it shows that we can be in contention and we really persevered today and played through the rough weather and stayed patient. I think it is a good show of what we can do."
The Gators will start up again in February at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge.
