With another solid day on the course including another career-low
round (69) from senior Mia Piccio (Bacolod City, Philippines), the
ninth-ranked University of Florida women’s golf team advanced to the NCAA
Championship for the third-straight year after finishing in fourth-place in the
2013 NCAA Central Regional in Norman, Okla. The streak marks the first
back-to-back-to-back appearance in the championship since the 2006 through 2008
seasons and is the 23rd total appearance in the finals in school
history. The fourth-place finish also matches the team’s best finish in an NCAA
Regional since 2008.
Along with Piccio’s performance, sophomore Anna Young (Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan, Canada) carded her best round of the year with a one-over (73)
and helped the Gators finish with a total of 877 (+13), also its lowest total in
a regional since the current format began in 1993. Four out of the five Gator
starters scored one-over or better in today’s final round as Piccio was able to
complete a round of 69 for the fifth time in her career and second of the week.
The eighth-place finish is her second-highest finish of the year and is the
first time she is the highest UF finisher in any tournament this season.
“I am happy for Mia and her play this week,” Florida head coach Emily
Bastel said. “She had one bad nine-hole stretch, but besides that, played
great golf all weekend. It’s a real positive for this team to have our senior
step up at crunch time. The team, alone, did a great job of rebounding after
yesterday’s round. They hung tough all day today and never gave up. I’m proud
of their toughness.”
Starting her day at one-over for the tournament, Piccio got right
to work with two-straight birdies on the second and third holes to get back to
red numbers for the weekend. Upon reaching the turn, the senior birdied the par
five, 8th, but suffered her first bogey of the day on the ninth
hole. Not letting the one drawback get her down, Piccio came right back to
birdie the tenth hole and then the 13th hole to move to four-under
the day and three-under for the tournament. Unfortunately, she had to write
down one more bogey at the 17th, but still finished with a stellar
69 and keep herself in the top-ten. Piccio’s final scores of 69-76-69 for a 214
(-2) left her in eighth place for her second under par tournament this year.
Providing some great depth from the No. 5 spot, Young was primed
for her best round of the year as she improved each day of the regional. The sophomore
had an up-and-down start to her day with two birdies and a double-bogey through
the first three holes, but the Canadian settled down to par out the remaining
six holes on the front nine. Young was actually on pace to set a new career-low
after birdies on the 10th and 15th holes, but suffered a
bogey and a double-bogey on 17 and 18 to close out the day. Nonetheless, Young’s
73 set a new low for her season and gave Florida a much needed lift to stay in
the top eight. Young finished the regional in a tie for 63rd with
final scores of 78-75-73 for a 226 (+10).
After getting a one of a kind round to start the regional on
Thursday, junior Elcin Ulu (Istanbul, Turkey) was forced to battle back
on Saturday after suffering a 78 yesterday. Ulu did exactly that in today’s
final round to finish with the Gator’s second-lowest total for the regional and
be one of three Gators to card a 73 on Saturday. Ulu actually didn’t have the
most ideal starts to her day with three-straight bogeys on the fourth through
sixth holes. Dropping to five-over for the tournament, Ulu made the turn and
proceeded to hole out four birdies in a row. Holes 10 through 13 proved to be a
big turning point not only for Ulu, but for the Gators as the string of birdies
lifted UF into the comfortable fourth place needed to advance to the
championship. Ulu ended up one-over for the day and finished the weekend tied
for 20th with scores of 68-78-73 for a 219 total. The finish is her
third-highest this year and second-lowest 54-hole total also.
Rounding out Florida’s lineup, freshman Ursa Orehek (Domzale,
Slovenia) improved also from her day two total as she carded a one-over (73),
her second-best round of the weekend for a final total of 222 (+6) to finish
tied for 35th. The finish is Orehek’s third-highest this season and
second top-40 finish in the last three tournaments. The 222 total is one shot
off her tournament-low of 221 set back at the Bryan National Collegiate in late
March.
Finally, sophomore Camilla Hedberg (Sitges, Spain) couldn’t
quite get any momentum going on the regional’s final day as finished the third
round with a four-over (76) to complete the tournament with a 12-over (228)
score in a tie for 75th.
Duke ended up claiming the team title with a 13-under (851)
tournament total after going 12-under on the final day to beat second-place
Oklahoma by six shots. Mississippi State, the only other SEC school in the
field, finished in third-place at eight-over (872), while also bringing home
the individual champion, Ally McDonald, who finished the three-day tournament
at 10-under (206) for a five-stroke victory over Alejandra Cangrejo of Duke.
The Gators will now have to wait a couple of weeks before traveling
to Athens, Ga., to take part in the 2013 NCAA Championship. The four round tournament
is scheduled to run May 21-24 and be played at the UGA Golf Course. Last year,
UF finished in 12th place, it’s first top-15 finish since 2006.
For complete coverage of UF’s women’s golf program visit
GatorZone.com, follow @GatorZoneGolf on Twitter and ‘like’ the University
of Florida Women’s Golf page on Facebook.
2013 NCAA Central Regional Final Team Scores
Place Team Score
1 Duke 284-291-276=851
(-12)
2 Oklahoma 283-286-288=857
(-7)
3 Mississippi St. 292-299-281=872
(+8)
4 Florida 282-307-288=877
(+13)
5 Arizona St. 292-298-288=878
(+14)
6 UC Davis 291-300-289=880
(+16)
7 Wisconsin 292-303-288=883
(+19)
8 Michigan St. 291-301-292=884
(+20)
9 NC State 294-298-293=885
(+21)
10 Washington 294-307-285=886
(+22)
11 Texas Tech 296-295-297=888
(+24)
12 Coastal Carolina 293-297-299=889 (+25)
13 SMU 296-302-300=898
(+34)
14 Wake Forest 299-301-301=901
(+37)
15 TCU 290-303-309=902
(+38)
16 Iowa St. 294-307-302=903
(+39)
17 UTSA 302-303-299=904
(+40)
18 Indiana 292-309-310=911
(+47)
19 Gonzaga 303-309-306=918
(+54)
20 Campbell 301-310-310=921
(+57)
21 Lamar 303-321-302=926
(+62)
22 Illinois St. 301-318-327=946
(+82)
T23 Butler 305-326-321=952
(+88)
T23 Detroit 312-323-317=952
(+88)
2013 NCAA Central Regional Final Top 10
Individual Scores
Place Name Score
1 Ally McDonald (Mississippi St.) 69-69-68=206
(-10)
T2 Alejandra Cangrejo (Duke) 72-69-70=211
(-5)
T2 Emily Collins (Oklahoma) 67-70-74=211
(-5)
T2 AC Tanguay (Oklahoma) 71-70-70=211
(-5)
5 Lindy Duncan (Duke) 69-72-71=212
(-4)
6 Chirapat Jao-Javanil (Oklahoma) 72-70-71=213 (-3)
7 Mia Piccio (Florida) 69-76-69=214
(-2)
T8 Courtney Ellenbogen (Duke) 73-75-67=215
(-1)
T8 Olafia Kristinsdottir (Wake Forest) 72-74-69=215
(-1)
T8 Ying Luo (Washington) 73-74-68=215
(-1)
Florida Player Final Scores
Place Name Score
7 Mia Piccio 69-76-69=214
(-2)
T20 Elcin Ulu 68-78-73=219
(+3)
T35 Ursa Orehek 71-78-73=222 (+6)
T62 Anna Young 78-75-73=226 (+10)
T74 Camilla Hedberg 74-78-76=228 (+12)
