Florida’s women’s golfer Sierra Brooks has responded to her recent demotion well.
After winning the Florida Challenge in late January and then shooting a dismal 11 over last weekend at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes, California, Sierra Brooks came out on fire Sunday at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate Championship in New Orleans.
After 36 holes on Saturday, the No. 8 Florida men’s golf team was just a stroke behind No. 3 Vanderbilt for the lead in the SunTrust Gator Invitational, its first competitive event of the spring season.
It was a beautiful day for golf. With temperatures in the 70s for most of the morning and afternoon, Gordon Neale approached the 18th hole for the second time on Saturday. Under the coverage of scattered clouds, Neale took out his sand wedge and let loose a shot that elicited a roar from the crowd gathered near the green.
After a long winter break, the Florida men’s golf team will begin its season this weekend at the SunTrust Gator Invitational in Gainesville.
The No. 20 Florida women’s golf team didn’t have the showing it wanted on par-3 holes during its first event of the spring — the Florida Challenge in Lecanto, Florida — on Jan. 29. The Gators shot 9 over on the course’s shortest holes, a tie for the third-worst mark in the competition, hindering its chances of pulling off a victory.
Florida women’s golf coach Emily Glaser knew the field at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge would be tough. She knew she needed someone on her team to step up.
Florida women’s golf coach Emily Glaser chuckled.
Going into the 18th hole of the second and final round of the Florida Challenge in Lecanto, Florida, on Monday, UF women’s golfer Sierra Brooks knew she needed to give her team a boost. In a tie for first with Miami’s Dewi Weber, Brooks slammed a shot all the way to the green to set up an eagle attempt.
Gordon Neale had everything settled. As a top-25 prospect in his recruiting class, he had his pick of offers from high-profile programs. But there was only one school he wanted to attend. With a scholarship lined up, he was headed to play golf at Southern Methodist University.
Last May, Florida earned the No. 1 seed at the NCAA Regionals in West Lafayette, Indiana. The Gators seemed poised to breeze through regionals and compete for a national championship.
UF women’s golfer Elin Esborn believes the Gators are getting better, even though the results haven’t quite showed it.
Florida never had a chance to move up the leaderboard in Sunday’s final round at the Landfall Tradition in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Over the course of its fall schedule, the Florida women’s golf team has had opportunities to win but hasn’t taken advantage of them.
After Round 2 of UF’s final fall tournament, Florida was in position to make a push for the lead. The men’s golf team held sole possession of second place and sat only two strokes behind the leader, Illinois.
On Sunday, Gators’ freshman John Axelsen carded six birdies on the front nine, which led UF to second place on the leaderboard behind Illinois and gave Axelsen a share of the individual lead.
Freshman John Axelsen had a rough start to his season, finishing 7 over in both of the Gators’ first two tournaments of fall before being removed from the lineup ahead of their next competition.
When Florida opened its season at the Carpet Capital Invitational in Dalton, Georgia, over a month ago, it had one major underlying problem: a lack of well-rounded team play.
Florida’s women’s golf team overcame a difficult and windy day to finish strong, putting three golfers in the top 20 and earning a fourth-place finish at the Windy City Classic in Highland Park, Illinois.
On Sunday, he was struggling through his Gators debut. But on Monday, freshman Won Jun Lee was Florida’s best golfer.
Solutions by The State News
