Freshman Taylor Tomlinson and sophomore Kelly Grassel might have taken different paths to becoming athletes on the Florida women’s golf team, but after the team struggled to a 12th place finish at the Cougar Classic, both of them are standing out for coach Emily Glaser.
"We’re coming off a mediocre finish at the Cougar Classic, didn’t play great up there, but we left still with some positive vibes," Glaser said. "We learned a lot from the tournament, especially with the new girls, who we hadn’t seen compete up close yet and so we got some good feedback from them."
Tomlinson decided to stay close to home when it came time to pick a college to play golf. The Gainesville native completed her first tournament at 11-over-par, but she saved her best for the final round of play when she shot an even-par, 72. The freshman comes into UF with high expectations, after a high school career in which she was ranked as the No. 2 player in the state of Florida and No. 10 in Golfweek’s girl’s junior ranking for the class of 2014.
For Grassel, her path to UF was a little bit different. Originally playing at Michigan State her freshman year, Grassel decided to transfer to play under coach Glaser, who coincidentally played for the Spartans herself. Grassel was successful in her only season in East Lansing, as she had the lowest scoring average by a freshman in the school’s history with an average of 75.40.
But Grassel is now at UF and at the Cougar Classic as she finished as the best player on the team with a score of 5-over-par. Grassel’s best day came in the opening round when she shot an even-par, 72. Over the next two rounds, she was able to stay consistent and her overall score was good enough for a tie for 38th place.
Tomlinson and Grassel will be counted on this year as the fall season continues. Even though they performed well in their opening tournament for the Gators, Glaser said both Grassel and Tomlinson had problems trying to do too much on the golf course.
"It’s hard not to go in with some high expectations, and it’s easy to get a little ahead of yourself, and I think both of them probably struggled with that a little bit," Glaser said. "But they did a good job throughout the week of managing that a little bit better every day and I think getting one under their belt is a big key for them in the fall."
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