BRYAN, Texas – The No. 24 University of Florida women’s golf team completed the first round of the 2011 NCAA Championships having posted a team score of 294 (+6) that was the second-lowest among the teams in the morning wave on a day where the wind reached 15-20 miles per hour at the par-72, 6,260-yard Traditions Golf Club. The Gators were paired with Stanford and Washington and were the first to tee off, opening play on No. 10. As Evan Jensen (Belleair, Fla.) – the first Gator to make the turn – began the front nine, Florida was in second at one-over, three strokes behind defending national champion Purdue. The Gators would end the afternoon two strokes behind the Boilermakers and concluded the round in fifth place, five shots off the pace of leader UCLA.
“It was solid and a good start,” head coach Jan Dowling said. “There’s obviously a lot of golf to play still but the thing that helped our team the most was that out of the four counting scores, we didn’t have any double bogeys. That’s the name of the game out here. There’s going to be times where you might miss some of these greens because they are pretty small. There are some well-placed bunkers out there and you’re going to make some bogeys out here.
“We limited our mistakes and that was huge. Jack Nicklaus is notorious for being a very conservative golfer and this course is designed that way. If you’re conservative, you’re actually going to have more birdie opportunities than you would if you were really aggressive. A lot of these holes, it’s really a middle of the green strategy.”
Junior Andrea Watts (Bradenton, Fla.) fired her third consecutive 72 (E), dating back to the second round of the NCAA East Regional after a round with 18 pars. It marked the first time in career she completed a round without a bogey, improving from her previous best of one bogey in the second round of the 2009 Mason Rudolph Women’s Championship. As a result, Watts will head into the second round tied for 10th.
“I was hitting it really well and it was just a steady day,” Watts said. “I felt confidence with my long game and this is definitely a course where you need confidence in your longer shots. It was playing long today with the wind. I worked on my driver every single day until I got here. I was satisfied with every driver I hit except for one today so it really changed my game.”
Watts escaped potential danger on No. 3 when she found a bunker on the left side of the green, right next to where Stanford’s Rebecca Durham had sent her ball but was able to get up-and-down for par. She hit it out within eight feet and then sank the putt to remain even.
“I knew the type of bunker shot that I needed to hit and it was something that I was comfortable with,” Watts said. “Every time I missed the green, I had confidence in getting it up-and-down for par. I didn’t feel any fear today.”
“She obviously hit the ball great and she made some putts,” Dowling added. “I think a big thing for her was probably that the speed of her putting was very good. I think she’s a little bummed she didn’t make any birdies but hopefully that will come the next three days.”
Sophomore Mia Piccio (Bacolod City, Philippines) also entered the clubhouse with a 72 (E) after 18 holes. After 10 holes, she was at two-over before rallying in her final eight holes to finish in a tie for 10th.
“I bogeyed 17 which was my eighth hole,” Piccio noted. “I was in between clubs and I went for the shorter club and tried to hit it long but I chunked it. It was short of the green and there was a false front. It was kind of hard to get up-and-down. My second shot on 10 (No. 1), I plugged it in the bunker. I hit my bunker shot to 20 feet and two-putted. I just told myself to keep being patient.”
A birdie on No. 3 seemed to create some positive momentum and then another on No. 6 drew her back to even where she finished the day.
“On No. 3, I hit it to eight feet and made an uphill right-to-left putt,” Piccio explained. “This course is pretty windy so I’m just trying to keep my ball as low as possible and control it better. I played conservative today because it’s a long tournament and I didn’t want to do anything crazy to my round.”
Sophomore Isabelle Lendl (Goshen, Conn.) posted a 74 (+2) in round one that left her knotted for 31st on the leaderboard. She opened on the par-5 10th and on her third shot, stuck it within three feet and sank the putt for Florida’s first birdie of the tournament. Lendl stayed at one-under through the back nine and was in the top 10 through 12 holes before ending the round with three pars and three bogeys.
Jensen was steady throughout, going two-over on both sides to card a 76 (+4). After a three-putt on 10 led to a bogey to open her round, the 90th-ranked player in the nation according to the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings settled in, collecting six straight pars before a bogey on 17. She followed a similar formula on the front nine, bogeying No. 1 and then reeling off five pars in a row before a bogey on No. 7.
Senior Jessica Yadloczky (Casselberry, Fla.) shot an 81 (+9) with much of the damage coming on a quadruple bogey on 15 and she was seven-over at the turn. She improved on the front nine with birdies on Nos. 1 and 8 and played her final nine at two-over.
Minnesota, Arizona State, Virginia, UCLA, Alabama and Southern California will resume the competition Thursday at 9:00 a.m. ET. Florida again is paired with Stanford and Washington and Yadloczky will begin play for the Gators from the first tee at 1:30 p.m. ET. She will be followed by Jensen, Lendl, Watts and Piccio in 11-minute intervals.
Keep up with the Gators at www.ncaa.com for live scoring, on Twitter for updates on the team’s progress and at www.GatorZone.com for a recap and updated results after the conclusion of the second round of the NCAA Championships.
Team Scores After Round 1
| Place | School | Score |
| 1. | UCLA | 289 (+1) |
| 2. | Virginia | 291 (+3) |
| T3. | Purdue | 292 (+4) |
| T3. | LSU | 292 (+4) |
| 5. | Florida | 294 (+6) |
| 6. | Texas A&M | 295 (+7) |
| 7. | Arizona State | 296 (+8) |
| 8. | Vanderbilt | 297 (+9) |
| 9. | Wake Forest | 298 (+10) |
| 10. | Tennessee | 299 (+11) |
| 11. | Alabama | 301 (+13) |
| T12. | Southern California | 302 (+14) |
| T12. | South Carolina | 302 (+14) |
| 14. | Ohio State | 303 (+15) |
| 15. | Arizona | 304 (+16) |
| T16. | Arkansas | 305 (+17) |
| T16. | Minnesota | 305 (+17) |
| T16. | North Carolina | 305 (+17) |
| 19. | California | 306 (+18) |
| T20. | Stanford | 308 (+20) |
| T20. | Notre Dame | 308 (+20) |
| 22. | Washington | 312 (+24) |
| 23. | UC Davis | 313 (+25) |
| 24. | Coastal Carolina | 322 (+34) |
Individual Top 10 Through Round 1
| Place | Player (School) | Score |
| 1. | Brittany Altomare (Virginia) | 69 (-3) |
| T2. | Caroline Powers (Michigan State)* | 70 (-2) |
| T2. | Michelle Shin (Wake Forest) | 70 (-2) |
| T2. | Glory Yang (UCLA) | 70 (-2) |
| T5. | Katie Burnett (South Carolina) | 71 (-1) |
| T5. | Numa Gulyanamitta (Purdue) | 71 (-1) |
| T5. | Tiffany Lua (UCLA) | 71 (-1) |
| T5. | Calle Nielson (Virginia) | 71 (-1) |
| T5. | Marta Silva Zamora (Georgia)* | 71 (-1) |
| T10. | Mia Piccio (Florida) | 72 (E) |
| T10. | Andrea Watts (Florida) | 72 (E) |
| T10. | Marina Alex (Vanderbilt) | 72 (E) |
| T10. | Carlota Ciganda (Arizona State) | 72 (E) |
| T10. | Lindy Duncan (Duke)* | 72 (E) |
| T10. | Michele Edlin (Minnesota) | 72 (E) |
| T10. | Austin Ernst (LSU) | 72 (E) |
| T10. | Jacqueline Hedwall (LSU) | 72 (E) |
| T10. | Anna Leigh Keith (Vanderbilt) | 72 (E) |
| T10. | Camilla Lennarth (Alabama) | 72 (E) |
| T10. | Megan McChrystal (LSU) | 72 (E) |
| T10. | Jessica Negron (Florida State)* | 72 (E) |
| T10. | Natalie Sheary (Wake Forest) | 72 (E) |
*Player is participating as an individual
Florida Results After Round 1
| Place | Player | Score |
| T10. | Mia Piccio | 72 (E) |
| T10. | Andrea Watts | 72 (E) |
| T31. | Isabelle Lendl | 74 (+2) |
| T57. | Evan Jensen | 76 (+4) |
| T114. | Jessica Yadloczky | 81 (+9) |
