After a disappointing end to last week’s Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge, the Florida women’s golf team will look to regroup as participants in this weekend’s Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate Golf Championship in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The Gators were tied for fifth-place entering the final round at Northrop, putting themselves in position to earn back-to-back top three finishes. However, outside of sophomore Kelly Grassel (+2), each individual struggled, with the next lowest score being six over par.
"We showed up but didn’t bring the energy level that I would’ve like to have seen," coach Emily Glaser said. "You still gotta go out and go get it. We didn’t really do that the last day."
But despite their fallacious end at Northrop, Glaser has emphasized to the team that they must remain positive and continue to improve on the little things.
"Coming in with a good attitude and kinda lifting each other up," Glaser said. "Making sure that we do the same things on the days were scoring well, as we do on the days when maybe we’re not scoring as well."
At Northrop, senior Camilla Hedberg failed to do the little things right, attributing her final score of +14 to her inability to thrive in the short game, which is something she is looking to improve upon.
"For me it’s a lot of putting. I struggle with my putting out there," Hedberg said. "I’m working hard on that. It’s getting better."
Much like Northrop – which featured five of the nations top-10 teams – the Gators will yet again encounter some of the country’s highest ranked opponents in New Orleans, as they will face four top-10 teams.
Heading into the weekend, it is important that the team builds off of their practices and in-game experience.
It is also imperative that they remain focused and confident.
Fortunately, Hedberg said, the team’s confidence level is quite high.
"The team chemistry is great. I think that helps a lot," Hedberg said. "Were all excited. I think California, even though we didn’t finish strong, showed us that we can be one of those top teams… Being able to be fifth after two rounds and still feeling like we didn’t play to our potential showed us how good of a team we could be."
The Gators will tee-off during the first round of the Sugar Bowl on Sunday.
Justen Rosenberg on Twitter @RosenbergJusten
Camilla Hedberg putts the ball during the SunTrust Gator Invitational on March 15.
