Florida has earned the right to be confident.
With five first-place finishes under its belt — the most since the 2007-08 season — and three tournament victories in a row, it would be almost too easy for UF to become complacent.
Yet with pressure mounting, the Gators have succeeded through managing expectations and dismissing complacency.
"Each of our wins that we’ve had in the spring have presented a different challenge," coach Emily Glaser said Monday about Florida defending its title at the Briar’s Creek Invitational.
"In this one was the challenge of defending your title, the challenge of being the top-ranked team, the challenge of the expectations that you’re supposed to win this tournament. I thought the girls did a really good job of responding to that."
That being said, the Gators recognize a tournament win is not without its faults.
At Briar’s Creek, sophomore Taylor Tomlinson ended the first day 14 strokes over par.
The Gainesville native was not able to recover through the three rounds of play, ending the tournament at 12 over par.
At the other end of the leaderboard, freshman Samantha Wagner barely missed out on a top-three finish after following up two under-par rounds with an even-par round due to three bogies on the back nine.
But for Glaser, it is what the team does after the tournament — through both the highs and lows — that shows its resiliency.
"... The really cool thing that I saw from the team was that, after lunch we were sitting there waiting for all the scores to come in and the girls were already talking about what they were going to do to improve," Glaser said.
"That’s really cool to see from a team who’s obviously had a lot of success this spring."
But just as important for Glaser is what she hasn’t seen in the team.
"They certainly haven’t rested or been content with the wins. I haven’t seen any egos popping out, I haven’t seen anybody really being content with the way that they played," Glaser said.
"I’ve been really happy with the fact that, even though we’ve been able to win, we seem to be learning and it’s really acted as a great motivator for the girls, and I think they’re starting to get excited about what’s to come in the spring."
Follow Alfredo Morales on Twitter @amorales_95.
Taylor Tomlinson putts during the 2015 SunTrust Gator Invitational at UF's Mark Bostick Golf Course.
