The Gators women’s golf team had possibly their best first round of the season, landing in first place in the first round of the NCAA Central Regional thanks to a five-under (six-under) par (282) score as a team.
No. 9 Florida’s play comes after one of its worst performances of the season -- the Gators finished 13th in the Southeastern Conference Championship.
“We had a nice start to the tournament,” Florida coach Emily Bastel said in the release. “The girls did a great job of managing their way around this course and sticking to the game plan we came up with during the practice round."
Leading the way for Florida was junior Elcin Ulu. Ulu has played the best golf of her first season in Gainesville the past two months and put together a string of three birdies out of four holes on the back nine. Ulu finished at four under (68).
Right behind her was senior Mia Piccio, who shot a 69 (-3), including an eagle on the fourth hole. Her performance tied for the lowest round in Piccio’s collegiate career.
Both Ulu and Piccio have a chance to walk away with the individual title for the tournament. Ulu sits just one stroke back of leader Emily Collins of Oklahoma (-5).
Piccio is tied for third with six others at three under. A win for Piccio would mean her second individual title of the season after she took home the Lady Bulldog Invitational earlier in the season.
Florida also got a career-best round out of freshman Ursa Orehek, who shot one under (71) in the first round. Orehek, like Ulu, has played her best golf in the past few tournaments after returning from an injury that kept her out of most of the spring.
"It’s great to have Mia (Piccio), Elcin (Ulu) and Ursa (Orehek) all under par and we’ll work hard to do more of the same over the next two days," Bastel said.
Camilla Hedberg, the Gators' No. 1 starter, had an off day after shooting two over (74) for the round.
Rounding out the tournament for Florida was sophomore Anna Young, who shot six over (78) for the round. Young recorded a birdie on the first hole but was weighed down by her quadruple bogey on the second hole.
Notably absent from the lineup was senior captain Isabelle Lendl, who sat in place of Young. Lendl was benched after shooting 29 over par (T64) in the SEC Championship and saw her finish drop in every tournament since the Allstate Sugar Bowl (Feb. 24-26).
The Gators will have stiff competition to remain in first place as No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 3 Duke are nipping at the team’s heels. The second round will resume tomorrow.
Junior Camilla Hedberg watches her shot during the SunTrust Gator Invitational on March 15 at Mark Bostick Golf Course.
