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Friday, March 29, 2024
<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-0aa4379a-f95a-af8e-db81-3c8e3d3f7b78"><span>Maria Torres watches her shot during the SunTrust Gator Invitational on March 11, 2017, at the Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville.</span></span></p>

Maria Torres watches her shot during the SunTrust Gator Invitational on March 11, 2017, at the Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville.

Kelly Grassel would not be denied.

The senior from Chesterton, Indiana, saved her best round of golf for last at the Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday afternoon, shooting a team-low 2 under for the day and carrying Florida to its second consecutive NCAA Regional title and its third in program history.

Grassel finished the tournament at even par, earning her a share of first place overall with Ana Pelaez of South Carolina.

Coach Emily Glaser said she had confidence in Grassel to do well in this tournament.

“What a great event for Kelly, she played fantastic and really carried us this week,” Glaser said in a release. “We knew she could excel on this course and she managed her game very well.”

South Carolina used a stellar back nine — carding 11 birdies and two eagles — to lower its score by eight strokes and claim a tie for title with Florida. Along with Pelaez, two other Gamecock golfers finished in the top five.

Grassel’s performance on the final day — four birdies and only two bogeys — helped solidify the Gators’ position. Every golfer for UF had at least one birdie, though the team still struggled on the back nine in what has been a habit over the course of the tournament, posting 14 bogeys.

Senior Maria Torres capped off an unusually quiet performance with a 1 over for the day, finishing the tournament at 11 over and giving her a share for 26th overall. All Gators finished in the top 37 in a field that featured 90 golfers.

Freshman Marta Perez ended up finishing 7 over for the tournament after struggling to find her day-one groove in which she finished 1 over. However, Perez’s performance was good enough for a tie of 11th overall.

Junior Taylor Tomlinson rounded out the scoring for UF, finishing the tournament in a tie for 30th at 12 over after posting a 6 over for the final day.

Glaser said that she was proud of the way her team played, and that she had some takeaways from the experience.

“To be able to play on this type of course, under the pressure of regionals, the week before the National Championship is a huge advantage for us,” Glaser said. “This is the type of course where taking a mental vacation at any time will cost you dearly. We expect the NCAA Championship to be like that as well.”

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The Gators, by virtue of finishing in the top six in the regional, earned a spot in the NCAA Championship beginning May 19 in Sugar Grove, Illinois.

 

Contact Morgan McMullen at mmcmullen@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @morganmcmuffin.

Maria Torres watches her shot during the SunTrust Gator Invitational on March 11, 2017, at the Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville.

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