Today the UF women’s golf team begins the three-day Tar Heel Invitational in Chapel Hill, N.C., boasting a field of 13 teams ranked in the top-25, including No. 1 LSU, No. 3 Alabama and No. 5 Georgia.
No. 24 Florida’s play has been a mixed bag this season. Inconsistency and big numbers have been interspersed with stretches of seemingly endless birdies and great individual performances.
Coach Jan Dowling believes the team can make a statement this weekend, though.
“That’s one of the reasons we have the schedule we do,” Dowling said. “One of these days we’re going to bring our ‘A’ game and it’s all going to come together for us. We’re excited.”
Dowling said her team has yet to reach its full potential, but she feels the team is capable of competing with the best in the country.
Much will be found out this weekend.
For a team featuring just one golfer — No. 55 Andrea Watts –— ranked in the top 100, the tournament provides an opportunity for the optimistic UF team to announce its arrival.
If the Gators want to impress in Tar Heel country, they’ll need the consistent play of juniors Evan Jensen and Andrea Watts to continue. Watts leads the team with a 73 scoring average, and Jensen is hot on her heels with an average of 73.43.
Sophomore Mia Piccio has been arguably the most prolific player of the young season. Piccio has fired five rounds of 73 or better, but she also battled the bogey demons at times. Fellow sophomore Isabelle Lendl and senior Jessica Yadloczky round out the UF squad competing this weekend at the UNC Finley Golf Course.
Entering the season, expectations for Lendl were high. She was the only UF golfer ranked in the top 100, and she played second in the rotation in the opening tournament at the TPC at Sawgrass. But after poor showings in back-to-back tournaments, Lendl spent the weekend of the Mason Rudolph Invitational in Gainesville while her sister Marika traveled to Nashville, Tenn.
In addition to a bounce-back performance from Lendl, the Gators will need strong showings from each golfer, something that has yet to happen this season.
