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The Florida women’s golf team
didn’t have far to travel for the NCAA East Regional held in nearby
Daytona Beach. But the Gators will have some ground to cover to
qualify for the championship round.
A
team score of 298 (+10) Thursday puts No. 24 UF in ninth place
after the first of three rounds. Florida must finish in the
top-eight to advance.
“Our goal isn’t to be in the top eight, our goal is to maybe even
possibly win this thing,” coach Jan Dowling said.
Playing at the par-72, 6,280-yard Legends Course at LPGA
International, where the Gators won the stroke-play portion of
Hooters Match Play event two years ago, Dowling said the team
entered the tournament comfortable and confident.
But
only one Florida golfer shot even par or better Thursday —sophomore
Isabelle Lendl—and coach Jan Dowling said the conditions made
things difficult even though UF teed off in the morning.
“What I really liked about the team was the way they fought today,”
coach Jan Dowling said. “It wasn’t the easiest day. There was
pretty substantial wind out there and I think a couple people
didn’t get off to the greatest start that they would’ve hoped for
but they fought back.”
After a double-bogey at the par-3 third to start her round, Lendl
rolled in a birdie on eight and added another on 18 to finish at 72
(E), good for 12th in the individual standings.
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“I hit a bunch of good shots and just chose the wrong club on No.
3,” Lendl said. “When these greens are down-grain and downwind,
they are pretty firm and it is really hard to stop the ball. I was
scared of going over, and I left it in a spot that is not so
great.”
Apart from the hiccup at three, Lendl was steady and bogey-free.
But some of the other Gators struggled with what Dowling said were
erratic wind conditions throughout the day.
“It
would just all of a sudden pick up,” Dowling said. “It’s almost a
little harder because you can’t feel the wind where you are and
then your ball gets over the tree line and you get some interesting
things happening to your golf ball. But they handled it well.”
Playing in the No. 1 spot in the rotation for the fifth time this
season, sophomore Mia Piccio made the turn at 3-over after a bogey
on No. 6 and a double-bogey on No. 7. But Piccio recovered to
shoot even par on the back and finish at 75 (+3).
Junior Evan Jensen was 1-under through five holes before running
into a rough seven-hole stretch that dropped her score to 4-over.
Jensen, who said the wind really began to swirl late in her round,
shrugged off the string of bogeys with a birdie at No. 17 to finish
with a 75 (+3).
The
Gators’ lone senior, Jessica Yadloczky, was 5-over after just seven
holes but rebounded with two birdies and just one bogey in her
final 11 holes to finish at 76 (+4). Junior Andrea Watts shot
40-37, finishing at 77 (+5).
Florida is one shot back of rival Florida State and trails leader
Coastal Carolina (286, -2) by 12 shots. Alabama is in second at 287
(-1).
“You don’t win on the first day but you can certainly shoot
yourself in the foot and we did not do that,” Dowling said. “We’re
right in the mix.”
