The Gators failed to rally in the third round of the 2014 Northrop Grumman Regional Tournament on Tuesday and finished in a frustrating 14th place.
USC won the tournament with a score of 866 (+14).
UF’s total score of 909 (+57) landed it two places from the bottom of the leaderboard.
It was a disheartening performance for a team that walked away from Palos Verdes, Calif., in 2013 with its fifth-straight top-five finish, coming in fifth after shooting 892 (+40).
“It was a disappointing day,” coach Emily Glaser said in a release.
“This event exposed some areas where we are lacking.”
Junior Sarah Schober, who competed as an individual, was the most successful player on the team with a total score of 215 (+2).
She tied for third place with four other players, including No. 4 Yu Liu from Duke.
Junior Camilla Hedberg and freshman Maria Torres both finished with a total score of 226 (+13).
Hedberg started the tournament tied for sixth place after shooting five birdies in Round 1, but after shooting seven-over during the second round and canceling out two birdies with two double bogeys, she plummeted to 38th place — a stark contrast to her successful eighth-place finish in 2013.
Torres ended in 38th place, tying with Hedberg and four other players, after concluding the tournament with three rounds of 72-77-77 in her Palos Verdes debut.
Redshirt sophomore Katie Mitchell shot eight bogeys to end the round with a score of 79 (+8) and finished the tournament six places behind her two teammates after earning a total score of 227 (+14).
Senior Elcin Ulu and freshman Karolina Vlckova rounded out the Gators’ lineup with respective total scores of 233 (+20) and 240 (+27).
Ulu failed to recover from six bogeys and two double bogeys in the first round, despite improving in the second and third rounds.
Vlckova had her most successful round on Day 3, shooting three birdies, but could not overcome shooting four double bogeys and nine bogeys during the previous two rounds.
“I stand by my sentiment that this is a talented team, but we have a lot of work to do if we want to be competitive week in and week out,” Glaser said.
The Gators’ next competition will be in two weeks at the Allstate Sugar Bowl at the English Turn Golf Club in New Orleans.
The team tied for 10th place with Oklahoma State in the shortened 2013 tournament.
“If we can use this experience for the good, we will be a much tougher team down the road,” Glaser said.
Follow Emily Cochrane on Twitter @EmilySCochrane
