The Gators women’s golf team is coming off consecutive runner-up performances for the first time this season, most recently at the SunTrust Gator Women’s Golf Invitational, where four golfers individually cracked the top-25 in the leaderboards.
However, that will be one of the few firsts the Gators must get accustomed to, as they tee off today at the Briar’s Creek Invitational in Charleston, South Carolina — a tournament the Gators have never competed in before.
Heading into the event, Florida will be participating as a top-25 team for the first time this year, landing at No. 25 in Golfweek’s most recent polls.
While it wasn’t planned, it seems as if the two weeks off, which is the longest of the spring season, in between events was a nice reward given to the team.
"The one thing that I’ve learned over the last few years is that our spring season is a long season, and we played in the fall, too, so we don’t get a huge break ever," coach Emily Glaser said. "We try to sort of give them a little time to relax and catch up on school, so when they do come back to practice, they’re feeling good and energized."
Keeping a high level of energy will be important as today’s first round will be a shotgun start, starting at 8:45 a.m.
Round 1 will feature 36 holes of continuous play from the golfers.
Two of those golfers will include sophomore Karolina Vlckova and freshman Taylor Tomlinson.
Vlckova used back-to-back 1-over-par performances during the SunTrust Invitational to give her a cumulative score of 6-over-par, putting her in a tie for second place.
For Vlckova, this marked the second time in her career that she finished in second-place.
Then there is Tomlinson, the Gainesville native who finished in 21st place at the home event, her fourth top-25 finish this season. Tomlinson shot a personal tournament best 2-over-par in the third round, giving her a total score of 16-over.
Her play was recognized nationally, as she received the honor of Southeastern Conference Freshman Golfer of the Week – another first for her and the Gators.
The success of the team has helped establish a much-needed boost in chemistry as the girls are starting to feed off of each other.
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Sophomore Karolina Vlckova high fives coach Emily Glaser during the final round of the 2015 SunTrust Gator Invitational on March 8.
