It was a new day on the golf course, but much of the same on the scorecard for Florida in the second round of competition at the NCAA Championships.
The Gators slid further down the leaderboard Wednesday after only improving by one shot from their first-round performance of 299 (+11). Florida’s five golfers shot a 298 (+10), finshing in 19th on Wednesday.
Their two-round score of 597 (+21) put them 37 shots behind first-place USC midway through competition.
Freshman Ursa Orehek was a bright spot for the Gators, but her round got off to a rough start.
Orehek bogeyed her first hole and double-bogeyed her third. She recovered with four birdies against only two bogeys in her 15 remaining holes to end the day with a 73 (+1), the best performance for Florida by two strokes.
“I’m happy with the way Ursa played,” coach Emily Bastel said in a release. “She hung pretty tough after a slow start. Overall, we had it going for a few stretches. We just haven’t quite been able to put it together for an entire day, and that’s what we’ll be trying to do for the next couple of days and keep moving up.”
Senior Mia Piccio and sophomore Camilla Hedberg again matched each others’ scores, but the results were two shots worse than their first round as both women carded two of Florida’s three 75 (+3) rounds on the day.
Piccio’s consistency in her first round – which included 12 straight pars – did not carry over to Round 2. The senior had three bogeys on the front nine and a double bogey on hole 15. Picco’s saving graces was bookending birdies on holes 10 and 18 of the back nine.
Hedberg’s day ended poorly after playing 15 holes at either even par or one over. She bogeyed two of the last three holes to finish at 75 (+3).
Junior Elcin Ulu, who was the most consistent Gator in the second round, shot the other 75. After three straight bogeys on holes No. 2, 3 and 4, Ulu navigated the rest of the course without error, parring the remaining 14 holes.
Sophomore Anna Young had another bogey-filled scorecard – finishing with seven bogeys and a double bogey as well. Her three redeeming birdies – two of which came on an inconsistent stretch that included three bogeys – were only good enough to score a 78 (+6). She had only one birdie in her first round.
“We’ve gotten some momentum going, but then something will happen that kills it,” Bastel said.
“This golf course will do that to you. It requires a lot of patience, but there are some unforced errors, too. It’s not so much we need them to hit perfect shots every time, but your misses have to be smart. That’s the sign of a good player.”
