Coming back from a third-place start, the Gators claimed first place at the SunTrust Gator Invitational on Sunday, adding to their previous three victories and six top-five finishes this season. The weekend’s tournament was UF’s only home tournament of the season.
Sunday was the first time since 2012 that UF won the tournament at the Mark Bostick Golf Course, and by 11 strokes no less.
"We did a pretty good job of managing the expectations being at home and coming out and playing solid in the third round," coach Emily Glaser said. "We did a good job of hanging in there in a very tough golf course."
This is just the latest in the Gators’ streak of success. After a less than ideal Fall season, Florida earned its first win at the Alamo Invitational on Oct. 27, the last tournament of the fall. Using that momentum, UF went on to win all but one of its tournaments in the spring so far.
Winning three of the four tournaments in the Spring semester, the Gators have momentum on their side. With two tournaments left before the Southeastern Conference Championship, Florida needs to stay true to what it has been doing the last few months.
For Glaser, this means keeping up the recent momentum and chemistry the team has.
"I think that we had some learning curve there in the fall but then to come out and end the fall with a victory really sort of spurred our team on, and then we’ve been able to carry that momentum this spring.," Glaser said. "They’ve been very good competitive even in the events that we haven’t won."
Glaser also credited the team’s chemistry as a reason for the success in the home tournament this year, unlike in previous years.
"This is a pretty tight-knit group. They really are supportive of each other, they play hard for each other and that seems to be the difference maker this year," Glaser said on Sunday.
The chemistry the team has developed has been pivotal to Florida’s successful according to Glaser. However, she admitted she did not always fully appreciate that element of the sport.
"Even when I first started at this job, I’m not sure that I felt the importance of that or understood the importance of that in a sport like golf which is technically, in a lot of ways, an individual sport, but since we’ve focused on that over the last couple of years I think that’s why we’re seeing some of this success," Glaser said.
"The team plays very hard, not only for themselves but for each other, and I think that is really what we will focus on moving forward trying to keep that momentum and represent the gator nation very well.".
Florida’s will head to Johns Island, South Carolina, for the Briar’s Creek Invitational on March 21. After that, the Gators will participate in the Clemson Invitational on April 2 before beginning play at the SEC Championship and NCAA Championship.
Contact Alfredo Morales at amorales@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @amorales_95.
Karolina Vlckova (right) celebrates with coach Emily Glaser during the 2015 SunTrust Gator Invitational at UF's Mark Bostick Golf Course.
