After nearly a month since their last tournament, the Gators are ready to get back into the swing of things.
Coach Jan Dowling said the long break will benefit No. 10 Florida when it partakes in the SEC/PAC-12 Challenge in Knoxville, Tenn., today. The team is looking to bounce back from a disappointing 13th-place finish at the Mason Rudolph Fall Preview where it posted a score of 905 (+41).
“It’s really been a good break for us,” Dowling said. “We were able to take a pretty objective look at the way we played in our first tournaments, and the team knew they had time to work on it.”
The 24-team field is the toughest UF will enter so far this season. All 12 Southeastern Conference teams and every Pac-12 school, excluding Utah, will compete in the three-day tournament at the par-72, 6,447-yard Holston Hills Country Club. Fourteen teams in the field are ranked in the top 25 according to the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings.
“Tournaments like this really separate the good teams from the mediocre teams,” Dowling said. “The spring is a long way away though, so I don’t think it’s going to indicate what’s going to happen at the national championships, but it definitely provides a measuring stick.”
Throughout the month, the Gators worked on their short game, as well as putting from fringes and hitting full shots from all types of angles to prepare for a tough and unfamiliar course.
“This course is pretty wide-open off the tee, but where the challenge lies is around the green,” Dowling said. “The key is to put yourself in a good position to make pars and birdies on your approach shot. It’s also very obvious where to hit it and where not to from the fairways, so that’s good.”
The story of the Gators’ fall season so far has been Camilla Hedberg’s emergence. In her first two collegiate events, Hedberg finished, tied for third and 22nd, respectively. The freshman also broke the school record for lowest tournament total with a score of 208 (-8) at the Cougar Classic.
While Hedberg, who will play No.1 in the rotation today, has been stellar, no other upperclassman besides junior Mia Piccio has posted consistent low scores. But Dowling said she expects her upperclassmen to step up and make the right adjustments today.
“I expect my upperclassmen, in particular, to make adjusts real quick to the golf course,” she said. “At the same time, everybody on the team is capable of making the adjustments they need to make on a new course to shoot a great score.”
