GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Florida women’s golf team claimed its 17th SunTrust Gator Women’s Golf Invitational crown after shooting a final round score of 293 (+13) at the Mark Bostick Golf Course. This marked the seventh time in the last 12 years that the Gators have emerged victorious at its home event and is the first team title Florida has earned since the 2010 Central District Invitational.
The Gators won the tournament with a cumulative total of 865 (+25), outpacing second-place Florida State by an 18-stroke margin in a field that included four top-25 teams according to the Feb. 23 edition of the Golf World/NGCA coaches’ poll and four others that received votes. The 865 is the second-lowest team score in the history of the SunTrust Gator Women’s Golf Invitational and the 18-stroke margin of victory is the third-largest for Florida in this event.
“I was pleased with how poised we stayed for the entire round,” head coach Jan Dowling said. “We shot a 10-over on the front and a two-over on the back. We settled in and we didn’t let the bad stuff bother us. One of our goals this year was to win this tournament but we did a good job of throwing expectations out the window when we went to tee it up.”
Three Gators completed the event with identical scores of 217 (+7) that left them in a tie for seventh: Evan Jensen (Belleair, Fla.), Isabelle Lendl (Goshen, Conn.) and Mia Piccio (Bacolod City, Philippines). Florida had three top-10 finishes in the same tournament for the first time this season.
Jensen recorded her second top-10 finish of the campaign and the seventh place finish was her best this season. She began brightly, making par four consecutive holes and after a birdie on No. 5, found herself within two strokes of eventual medalist Hannah Thomson of Florida State before ending her afternoon with a 75 (+5). Jensen was proficient on holes of all distances throughout the 54 holes, ranking tied for 15th in par-3 scoring (+3), tied for 10th in par-4 scoring (+6) and tied for second in par-5 scoring (-2).
“I struggled a little bit but to get the win is all that matters,” Jensen shared.
Lendl tied for the fourth-lowest round of the day, firing a 72 (+2). She began the round deadlocked for 11th but rose four spots to notch her first top-10 finish this season. The Connecticut native also managed to make birdies on some of the more difficult-playing holes in round three. She was one of only eight players to birdie No. 2 and one of just four to birdie No. 10. Her most important putt though, may have been what Dowling described as “a clutch bogey putt from about 15 feet on 14” and then she followed that with her third birdie of the round on 15. Lendl was tied for second in par-3 scoring (-1) and tied for 10th in par-4 scoring (+6), while also tying for the fourth-most birdies (8) at tournament’s end.
Piccio matched Lendl’s score of 72 and continued her consistent play during the spring. She was four-over through eight but rebounded nicely, playing the final 10 holes at two-under before heading to the clubhouse. Piccio has now gone six consecutive rounds without carding anything worse than a bogey and also, has two top-10 finishes to her credit. She also displayed some of her shot-making ability, chipping in for birdies on 15 and 18. Her par-4 scoring (+6) and par-5 scoring (-2) placed her among the leaders at tied for 10th and tied for second, respectively.
“She has been extremely consistent and she has a phenomenal short game that helps her here,” Dowling said. “She didn’t make as many birdies as she would like but she grinded today.”
Senior Jessica Yadloczky (Casselberry, Fla.) finished alone in 12th after shooting a 74 (+4) in Monday’s third round that put her at 220 (+10) overall and is now part of two teams that have won this tournament as she was a freshman on the 2008 team that also earned the title. She was two-over through four but then completed the remaining 14 holes at two-over. The Gator senior was tied for fourth in par-4 scoring (+3) during the three days and tied for eighth in pars (34).
“Her ball-striking is really good and she is starting to hit a lot of fairways which is something she struggled with last semester,” Dowling said. “For her, it’s just a matter of a couple putts dropping and she’s going to shoot some rounds under par.”
Junior Andrea Watts (Bradenton, Fla.) posted an 81 (+11) and registered a cumulative score of 226 (+16) that landed her in a tie for 23rd.
Sophomore Megan Pak (Bradenton, Fla.), competing as an individual, completed her tournament with an 82 (+12) in the third round for a 54-hole tally of 237 (+27).
