Florida got off to a shaky start during the first round of its first three-day spring tournament.
The Gators shot 298 (+14) Sunday in the 2014 Northrop Grumman Regional in Palos Verdes, Calif. and are currently ninth out of 16 teams after Day 1 of the tournament.
Unranked Baylor sits in first place with a score of 286 with No. 1 USC two strokes behind.
“We got off to a slow start today and it was hard to recover,” coach Emily Glaser said in a release. “The front nine, our back nine, played more difficult, so we were not able to make up many shots after our start. “
Palos Verdes veteran Camilla Hedberg earned the same first round score she did in Round 1 of the 2013 Northrop Grumman Regional, where she finished in eighth place. She led her teammates on the first day of competition, ending even-par (71) after shooting five birdies.
The junior is tied for sixth place with nine other players, including top-ranked UCLA golfer Alison Lee.
Junior Sarah Schober and freshman Maria Torres had moderately successful days on the course, shooting three birdies each to tie each other and six other players for 16th place at one-over (72).
“Overall, we were not happy with the team score, but there were some positives” Glaser said. “Camilla, Maria and Sarah had nice rounds and had a bunch of good birdie looks.”
Redshirt sophomore Katie Mitchell ended the day with a score of 76 (+5), despite hitting a double bogey, while freshman Karolina Vlckova shot a round of 79 (+8) in her Palos Verdes debut.
Senior Elcin Ulu, who was first in the lineup after placing fourth in her senior-season debut, sits sixth from the bottom of the leaderboard at the end of Day 1 with a score of 82 (+11).
Florida will have the chance to improve its place in the standings with two more rounds of competition ahead of it.
Despite the slow start, the Gators are confident in their ability to remain competitive and climb the leaderboard.
“This team is very talented and I see them improving,” Glaser said. “We have two more days and we will fight hard.”
Follow Emily Cochrane on Twitter @EmilySCochrane
