With the first round of the Bryan National Collegiate in the books, the Gators women’s golf team finds themselves on the cusp of their fourth straight top-2 finish.
The Gators finished Round 1 with a team-score of 14-over-par, putting them in a tie for fifth place on the leaderboards. They will enter Round 2 just five strokes behind clubhouse leader Virginia.
“We didn't have our best start but I saw a lot of positive things out there,” coach Emily Glaser said in a release. “The conditions were tough, very windy and we did just a so-so job of staying patient.”
But despite a top-5 standing in the leaderboards, for the most part, the team has to be hoping their best golf is ahead of them.
Although the team did not play to their recent standards, they saw a mark of consistency from one player: Karolina Vlckova, who continued her latest streak of dominance with another impressive performance.
The sophomore from the Czech Republic is coming off of consecutive top-6 finishes, giving her an added boost in confidence. On Friday, that confidence was clearly displayed as Vlckova shot a team best 2-under-par, including a total of six birdies.
Her score is good enough to set her apart from the others, putting her in tie for second place individually.
“I'm very happy for Karolina and her round,” Glaser said. “She has been playing well, but she has continued to grind and has been committed to improving the small details in her game. She stayed very process-oriented today, and that will be the goal for her and the whole team over the next few days.”
But outside of Vlckova, the team had trouble finding their niche, as the next lowest scores came from seniors Camilla Hedberg and Anna Young.
Both Hedberg and Young finished the final first regular season rounds of their careers with scores of 5-over-par and a spot at No. 31 in the leaderboard.
Young, who is competing in just her third tournament this season, is filling in for sophomore Kelly Grassel, after she suffered a dislocated elbow which is expected to sideline her for the remainder of the season.
Hedberg, on the other hand, continued her stretch of subpar play.
Heading into this weekend’s tournament, Hedberg has failed to crack the top-25 in her last two events, and as of now, if she does not pick up her swing, she is in risk of missing out for a third straight event.
Other than Vlckova, the team will look for a bounce back performance heading into Saturday’s second round.
Follow Justen Rosenberg on Twitter @JustenRosenberg
Sophomore Karolina Vlckova high fives coach Emily Glaser during the final round of the 2015 SunTrust Gator Invitational on March 8.
