Maria Torres saved her best performance of the fall season for the last tournament.
The sophomore fired a 1-under 71 in the final round of the Landfall Tradition in Wilmington, N.C., tying her lowest round in the fall, when she shot the same number in the first round of the Landfall.
Torres finished the tournament at even-par with an overall score of 216, good enough to finish in a tie for 11th place.
Florida finished the tournament at 13-over-par and in ninth place as a team. The Gators were 12 shots behind No. 16 Wake Forest, who held off Alabama and won by three strokes.
The Gators’ ninth-place finish is their best result in the fall. The team’s three-day score of 877 was also the best they have shot in the three events during the fall season.
Coach Emily Glaser was proud of the way Torres performed throughout the tournament.
"Maria had a solid event and a good closing round," Glaser said in a release. "She continues to improve and we will look for her to be a leader for us this spring."
The rest of Florida’s lineup didn’t fare as well in the final round of the tournament, as Torres was the only player to finish the round at even-par or better. Sophomore Karolina Vlckova completed her final round at 2-over-par and the three days of play at 3-over, which was good enough for a 24th place finish.
Freshman Taylor Tomlinson and sophomore Kelly Grassel each shot 4-over in the final round and finished at 5-over-par for the event. Junior Ursa Orehek struggled mightily over the three days as she completed the event at 10-over-par.
"We hung in there very well for most the day, but had some mistakes coming down the stretch that hurt us," Glaser said. "Overall, a better week with many more positives than we’ve had all fall."
With the fall season wrapped up for the team, the Gators will have three months off before getting the spring season underway. Glaser expects the team to improve during the down time while understanding the importance of getting everyone back at 100 percent.
"We are committed to working hard over the offseason to be prepared for the spring," Glaser said. "In addition, we want to get the team healthy so we have a full roster of competition which will benefit our team."
Follow Luis Torres on Twitter @LFTorresIII
Maria Torres hits the ball during the SunTrust Gator Women's Golf Invitational on March 15.
