The University of Florida women’s golf team
finished the first round of the NCAA East Regional in third place with a
six-over 294. The No. 12 Gators were led by their two seniors, Evan Jensen (Belleair,
Fla.) and Andrea Watts (Bradenton, Fla.), who both shot even par during
the first round at the Penn State Blue Course in State College, Pa.
“We are very happy with our start to the
tournament,” head coach Jan Dowling stated. “We actually thought the
scores of the entire field were going to be pretty low all weekend, but the
conditions were tough today with it being cold and windy. We played a very
solid front nine, which was actually the back nine, turning at even par as a
team. We weren't able to use that momentum as much as we would have liked going
into our back nine. However, holes one through nine, our back nine, are similar
to Florida’s course. They’re small greens and very much what you see is what
you get. I'm positive we will figure it out as the tournament progresses.”
Jensen and Watts, playing in their final
postseason as Gators, will enter the second round sitting in a tie for sixth.
Jensen handed in three birdies against three bogeys while Watts had two birdies
and two bogeys.
“I am very happy that our seniors were able
to lead us off today,” Said Dowling. “Andrea really gutted out a 72 today. She
struggled a bit off the tee, but was able to rely on her short game to shoot a
good score. Evan also played a very solid round of golf.”
Junior Mia Piccio (Bacolod City,
Philippines) carded a two-over 74. Piccio recorded two birdies, two bogeys and
one double-bogey. Piccio is tied for 24th following the first 18 holes.
Camilla Hedberg
(Sitges, Spain), the Southeastern Conference’s Freshman of the Year, finished
with a first round 76 (+4). Hedberg, who is tied for 51st, had one birdie
against five bogeys.
Junior Isabelle Lendl (Goshen,
Conn.) added a nine-over 81 to round out UF’s lineup in the first round.
No. 25 South Carolina claimed the top spot
on the leaderboard following round one. The Gamecocks shot an even par 288 and
lead No. 2 Alabama by four strokes. Katerina Ruzickova of Texas A&M leads
all individuals after carding a five-under 67.
Lendl will tee off first for the Gators in
the second round at 12:56 p.m. ET. All UF members will tee off of hole No. 1.
