The Gators battled wind and a first-round, 25-over-par deficit to finish eighth out of 14 teams in their only home tournament of the season.
No. 16 Florida finished 892 (+52) at the SunTrust Gator Women’s Invitational, doubling the score of winner Arizona. The No. 12 Wildcats took home the team title while Miami’s Daniela Darquea carded 214 (+4) to win the individual title.
“The tournament as a whole was disappointing; we really dug ourselves a big hole that first day,” coach Emily Glaser said. “We’ll try to take the positives out of today and move on from there.”
The three-day tournament play was affected by strong winds, which reached 20 mph during the third round.
“This is as hard as I’ve ever seen this golf course play,” Glaser said. “I thought we hung in there fairly well given the conditions, and it played tough for everyone.”
Junior Camilla Hedberg, who tied for fifth with a tournament-high 12 birdies and a season low score of 216 (+6), described the course as being “completely different.”
“As a team we didn’t do great, we were expecting a lot more,” Hedberg said. “Individually, I did play good. I had a good week. I’m not too happy with how I finished my round today, but I really can’t complain.”
This is the third consecutive year that Hedberg has placed in the top 10 at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.
Freshman Karolina Vlckova tied for 13th as an individual competitor during the first home competition of her collegiate career with a score of 219 (+9). Both senior Elcin Ulu and freshman Maria Torres landed in the top-50 after shooting a combined nine birdies and 30 bogeys.
Redshirt sophomore Katie Mitchell shot four birdies over the course of three days and tied for 54th with a score of 230(+20). Junior Sarah Schober finished two strokes behind Mitchell in 59th.
Sophomore Ursa Orehek shot a single birdie during the first two rounds, but landed at 68th after shooting only bogeys the third day of individual competition.
Florida now looks to the three-day Bryan National Collegiate Tournament in North Carolina on March 28.
“Last year, Greensboro was very, very wet and very, very cold,” Glaser said. “We just need to go up there, have a good practice round and adapt.”
Follow Emily Cochrane on Twitter @EmilySCochrane
Camilla Hedberg celebrates after shooting a birdie during the third round of the SunTrust Women’s Gator Invitational.
