The UF women’s golf team struggled Saturday at the Tar Heel Invitational in Chapel Hill, N.C.
After an even-par opening round, the Gators shot 13 over and fell 11 spots to 14th overall with a two-day total of 589. UF trails tournament leader Alabama (277-274, -25) by 38 shots.
Sophomore Mia Piccio returned to form after consecutive over-par rounds with a 1-under 71. Piccio made four birdies on the round and was down to 3 under before bogeying her last two holes.
“It clicked for her today,” coach Jan Dowling said. “That’s more like Mia. That’s going to carry some momentum for her into tomorrow and the rest of the fall.”
Both Evan Jensen and Isabelle Lendl started with a double bogey at the first hole, but Jensen battled, adding three birdies. But she also tallied three bogeys to finish with a 2-over 74.
Lendl, on the other hand, did not card a single red number Saturday and finished 6 over par with a 78.
“As a team, we didn’t go off to a very good start, and unfortunately I think that set the tone for the day,” Dowling said. “We dug ourselves a hole right away and weren’t able to get out of it.”
Senior Jessica Yadloczky also had trouble with the first hole, making her only bogey on the front nine at the 396-yard par-4. Yadloczky made the turn at 1 over, but a string of four consecutive bogeys on the back nine doomed her round. She finished tied with Lendl at 6 over.
After firing a 4-under 68 in the first round of the Mason Rudolph Invitational two weeks ago, junior Andrea Watts hasn’t been able to find the same groove. Watts shot an 8-over 80 on Saturday and the junior is now 16 over par in her last four rounds.
Mistakes in shot positioning and three-putting multiple greens cost the Gators Saturday, and Coach Dowling said her team must evaluate the reasons behind its struggles.
“We are going to make some physical errors out there, that’s what golf is all about, and I’m ok with that,” Dowling said. “But I asked my team to take an honest, hard look at why they shot the score that they did. Take an honest look and figure out what you need to do better.”
