According to coach Jan Dowling, Mia Piccio’s game fits the definition of “consistency.”
The junior has been UF women’s golf team’s most dependable player throughout the fall season, averaging a 72.9 through nine par-72 rounds in three tournaments. Piccio finished the team’s last event, the SEC/PAC-12 Challenge, with a 217 (73-72-72, +1), good for an 11-way tie for seventh individually.
In addition, Piccio hasn’t carded a round higher than 4-over all season.
Dowling attributed Piccio's success as a golfer to a combination of good ball-striking, short game and maturity.
“Mia’s ball-striking is really consistent,” she said. “She’s always putting herself in a good position if she misses a green, and when she hits it, she’s got a great chance for birdies.
“She understands how the college game works. If the putts start dropping for her, she’s going to be hard to beat. I know she feels ready for her first win as an individual, too.”
Piccio will look to continue her hot streak today as No. 10 Florida travels to Austin, Texas, to compete at the Betsy Rawls Invitational, the final tournament on the fall schedule.
The Gators are looking to rebound after an eighth-place finish at the SEC/PAC-12 Challenge, where they totaled an 893 (+29).
The 15-team field includes three other top-25 teams in the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings: Texas, Oklahoma State and Arizona.
The last time Florida competed at the par-72, 6,344-yard University of Texas Golf Club was in March of 2008, when the Gators came in second out of 18 teams.
“It’s a golf course we haven’t seen a whole lot of, and it’s very challenging, but at the same time, good players figure out a way to score no matter where they are,” Dowling said. “They’re hungry for that first win. We just have to go out, be patient and take care of the little things.”
The Gators will have Piccio play No. 1 in the rotation today, with freshman Camilla Hedberg, seniors Evan Jensen and Andrea Watts, and junior Isabelle Lendl rounding out the remainder of the lineup.
In her first collegiate event, freshman Lena Weichselgartner will compete as an individual.
“I’m truly just excited for her,” Dowling said. “[Her first tournament] will give her the chance to kind of measure herself against some other teams in the country. She needs to just relax and let her own natural athletic ability take over, and she’ll do fine.”
