The fifth-ranked University of Florida women’s golf team finished
the final round of the 2013 SunTrust Gator Women’s Invitational in third place
with a final score of 30-over (870) just five shots back of the eventual
winners, third-ranked Alabama (+25, 865).
Coming into Sunday’s final round just three shots back, the Gators
were primed to make a run on the last day. However, with the scoreboard
flipping back and forth all day, it was a horse race between Alabama, No. 4
Oklahoma and Florida to see who would be named champion of the tournament.
Each team for part of the day held the lead at some point with no
deficit being larger than five shots. When all three teams had about five holes
to play, it was Florida that held the late two shot lead. However, a late
birdie rally by Alabama allowed the Crimson Tide to pull ahead on the last
holes while Florida suffered some late bogeys to finish in third place behind
Oklahoma (+28, 868).
“It was an exciting finish for this tournament,” Florida head
coach Emily Bastel said. “We were in it for a lot of the day, but we’re
obviously disappointed with the outcome. We were in the lead at one time and
had a legitimate shot to win coming down the last few holes. We’ll learn from
it and stay motivated because of it.”
Even though the overall outcome wasn’t what the Gators were
looking for, Florida got one of its most consistent weekends out of its lineup
this year. Four of UF’s five players in rotation finished in the top-20, but
even freshman Ursa Orehek (Domzale, Slovenia), who had the Gators’ fifth
highest score of the weekend, still carded her second lowest 54-hole tournament
total. Orehek shot a final round 75 to finish the three-day weekend at 17-over
(227) in a tie for 44th place. Her lowest of 226 came at the Betsy Rawls
Invitational back in late October of the fall season.
Junior transfer Elcin Ulu (Istanbul, Turkey) was the
highest finishing Gator in the tournament as she claimed her second top-10
finish of the year and second of the spring season. Ulu took home a tie for
sixth place after a final round 71 (+1) to total a five-over (215) for the
tournament. The 71 for Ulu was her second score of that kind in the competition
and is her second-lowest round of the year. It was also her first time finishing
a tournament this year with a team-best score.
“Elcin did exactly what we needed her to this week,” Bastel said.
“I can’t complain about that. She managed her way around this golf course and
stayed patient. She stayed patient waiting for the putts to fall and did a
great job. I’m happy for her.”
Sophomore Camilla Hedberg (Sitges, Spain) finished tied for
ninth, good for her sixth top-10 finish out of the eight starts that she has
had this year. Hedberg was near the top of the individual leaderboard after the
first round, but suffered a slight setback in the second round after some late
bogeys in her round. Hedberg was able to battle back nicely on the last day to
improve by six shots en route to a one-over (71) for a final score of
seven-over (217). The six-stroke improvement was the best by a Gator this
weekend in between rounds and her third round total tied for the lowest out of
the Gators today with Ulu.
As for the remaining UF players in the rotation, seniors Mia
Piccio (Bacolod City, Philippines) and Isabelle Lendl (Goshen,
Conn.) finished in 19th and a tie for 20th place, respectively. Both players
were playing in their final Gator Women’s Invite of their careers and were able
to close out the chapter with, yet, another top-20 finish. It’s the fourth time
this year that Piccio (+10, 220) has claimed a top-25 spot at the end of a
tournament, while Lendl (+11, 221) continued her top-25 finish streak to eight
straight tournament appearances this year.
“I think our team is right where they need to be with just one
tournament left in the regular season,” Bastel said. “These sorts of
experiences make you a lot tougher. If we can take that away from this week and
take the good things with us and have an experience like this light a fire
inside of us, I think we’ll be just fine.”
