Play concluded Sunday at the Tar Heel Invitational in Chapel Hill, N.C., with the UF women’s golf team coming in 15th place, 45 shots behind tournament champions Alabama.
The Gators shot a 4-over 292 in the final round to finish with a three-day total of 881 (+17). The team fell one spot in the standings despite shooting nine strokes better than Saturday.
“It could definitely be a lot better, that’s for sure,” coach Jan Dowling said. “Any time you finish 15 shots out of the top 5 and 45 out of first, there’s some work to do. This team is capable of working hard, and we will get better.”
Junior Evan Jensen set a career low at the Tar Heel Invitational after carding a 2-under 70 Sunday for a 54-hole total of 214 (-2). Jensen made 13 birdies over the weekend and finished tied for 19th in the individual standings.
“She’s been our ‘rock’ all fall,” Dowling said. “Her ball striking has been really good, and again today she had five birdies. She could have gone really low today, to be honest.”
Sophomore Mia Piccio shot her second consecutive 1-under 71 for a total of 217 (+1). After a bogey at the second hole, Piccio birdied holes 7, 10 and 16 before bogeying the last.
Andrea Watts shook off a rough Saturday by shooting a 1-over 73 in Sunday’s final round. The junior made the turn at 1 under but had three bogeys and four pars over her last seven holes.
Filling in for her sister Marika Lendl this weekend, sophomore Isabelle Lendl finished at 11 over after shooting another 6-over round of 78. Lendl shot even par on the back nine after a rocky start on the front.
Jessica Yadloczky had two birdies, two double bogeys and a bogey on her front nine Sunday. The senior finished at 7 over for the day and 13 over for the tournament.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do obviously,” Dowling said. “It’ll be a good, competitive couple weeks within our team in practices and getting ourselves ready for our last tournament.”
Coach Dowling’s team has almost a full month off before traveling to Palo Alto, Calif., for the SEC/Pac-10 Challenge, the final tournament of the fall schedule. She said the team will work on its swing mechanics and short game over the break.
UF men's golf team ranked No. 1: Coming off a record-setting performance at the Olympia Fields Invitational, the UF men’s golf team is ranked No. 1 in the nation.
The Gators look to continue its winning ways when it travels to Birmingham, Ala., Monday to take part in the Jerry Pate Invitational hosted by Alabama University.
The two-day tournament is held at the par-71, 6,936-yard Old Overton Club and features just three teams ranked in the top-25. Joining Florida is Southeastern Conference foes No. 6 Alabama and No. 23 Auburn University.
UF last played in the event during the 2007-08 season finishing in fifth place.
Teams will play 36 holes on Monday and 18 on Tuesday.
The Gators will employ a lineup featuring seniors Arnond Vongvanij and Andres Echavarria and sophomores Tyler McCumber, Phillip Choi and Tommy Mou.
Arnond Vongvanij played in the event as a freshman, shooting 5 over and finishing in 44th place. Vongvanij, No. 3 in the collegiate individual rankings, has a scoring average of 69 this season and will play in the top spot Monday.
The Gators have three players ranked in the top 10 individually. In addition to Vongvanij, Tyler McCumber is ranked fifth and Andres Echavarria is tenth.
McCumber is coming off a career-best finish at Olympia Fields and coach Buddy Alexander said his game is much improved from his freshman campaign.
Echavarria, the lone senior apart from Vongvanij, will need to continue his consistent play if the Gators want to win their second straight tournament. Echavarria had 14 rounds par or better in the 2009-10 season, including a career-low 65 at the Golden Ocala Invitational.
UF will need plenty of red numbers to compete in Birmingham. Alabama has averaged 17 under par over the past four Jerry Pate tournaments, each an Alabama win.
Sophomore Phillip Choi is playing in his second tournament this season after shooting 3 over at Olympia Fields. Choi had 11 even or under-par rounds last year as a freshman and will play fourth in the rotation.
Making his season debut, Tommy Mou plays fifth in the rotation and will be the first Gator to tee off Monday morning. He appeared in five tournaments as a freshman with a scoring average of 73.2.
