The Florida women’s golf team was in Bryan, Texas, Wednesday and Thursday for its second action of the 2022 season. The Gators placed fourth as a team at the “Mo” Morial Invitational, with four Gators finishing in the top-25.
Junior Maisie Filler led the team on day one of the tournament, shooting 8-under par 64. Filler was one of three Gators to go under-par in round one. She was just one stroke off the lead after the opening round, only trailing Texas’ Sophie Guo, who carded a 9-under-par 63 Her second round, a 5-under par 67 featured zero bogeys. The Palm Beach native finished up the event with a 3-under par 69.
Filler’s runner-up performance is the second of her career. The last time she finished runner-up was at The Ally last fall when she shot a career-best 13-under-par 203.That score tied second all-time in program history for low individual tournament. 13-under par.
Filler did not post a round over par throughout the entire event this week and battled back and forth with North Carolina’s Kayla Smith for the individual crown. Filler ultimately fell just short but her 8-under-par 208 puts her back in the UF record books with the eighth-best individual score in program history.
Seniors Jackie Lucena and Annabell Fuller alongside freshmen Karoline Tuttle all resided in the top-25 at the end of competition. Both Fuller (T19) and Lucena (T16) had 1-under first rounds. After a bumpy end to the front nine in the second round, Tuttle (T22) sank three consecutive birdies on holes 12, 13 and 14 to carry momentum from round two into the final round when she carded an even 72t. The freshmen cut two strokes off her previous 18 holes.
Florida posted its lowest round of the season, an 8-under par 281, to own the lead after the first 18 holes Tuesday. The score set a new record for the event, the previous being 282 by Auburn in 2014.
The Gators combined for a team score of 7-under-par 569 to place third as a team after the first two rounds of the invitational.
The next two Gators on the leaderboard posted their second consecutive top-20 finish with Fuller finishing tied for 14th and Lucena tied for 18th. The seniors ended with just two strokes between them: Fuller at 1-over-par and Lucena at 3-over.
Tuttle over-par 3 recorded her season best finish at T25. The freshmen tied for fifth among the field with 11 birdies.
The Gators’ first round team score of 281 7-under-par 281 set a tournament record from the previous 282 set by Auburn in 2014. UF went 1-under overall, marking one of only four teams to shoot under par. Host Texas A&M won the event finishing 11-under with Texas at 7-under and North Carolina at 4-under coming in second and third.
Florida continues its fall season at the Windy City Classic Oct. 3-4 in Chicago, Illinois, at the Exmoor Country Club.
Contact Alyssa Britton-Harr at abritton-harr@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @abrittonharr.
Alyssa Britton-Harr is a second-year journalism major and a sports reporter for The Alligator. In her free time, she enjoys cheering on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and spending time with her friends.
