Florida saw improvements on Day 2 of the NCAA National Championship.
But it was not enough to hold on.
"We had a shaky start and struggled to get any real momentum going,” coach Emily Glaser said in a release. “We are doing a lot of things well but just haven't had any significant putts fall, and that's holding us back a little.”
The Gators fell two spots to finish the day in a tie for 17th place after a team total 5 over par.
While UF managed to shave four strokes off Friday’s round, seeing improvements from most of the lineup, it was not enough to climb up the leaderboard, instead falling to a 21-stroke gap behind first place Southern California.
Kelly Grassel led Florida in Round 2, finishing the day at even par.
The junior cleared the 18-hole campaign bogey free.
Grassel’s smooth round led to a two stroke improvement from Friday’s 2 over par 72 finish leading to a tie for 38th.
But Florida’s biggest improvement came from Karolina Vlckova and Samantha Wagner.
Both ended Friday’s round with a crippling 7 over par, and both finished Saturday’s round at 1 over par.
For Vlckova, it was the back-nine that marred her performance.
The junior collected two birdies on the front-nine, but three bogeys on the back-nine brought Vlckova over par.
The Czech Republic native finished just outside the top-100 at 101th place.
Wagner’s 11th hole presented problems. Like Vlckova, the freshman marked two birdies on the front nine but added a bogey. Unfortunately, a double-bogey in the 11th — her second hole of the day — kept the Freshman over par.
The freshman tied with Vlckova to finish in 101th place.
The rest of UF’s squad failed to improve between the rounds.
Taylor Tomlinson, who led the Gators in Round 1, cruised through the front-nine bogey free at even par.
The back-nine was a different story.
Two bogeys and a double-bogey was only mitigated by a birdie on the 16th hole.
The sophomore finished the day 3 over par in a tie for 38th place.
A litter of bogeys kept junior Maria Tories from improving.
It was a chaotic first-nine for Torres.
Six bogeys across the 18 and four across back nine were only answered by three birdies — also on the front-nine.
Torres landed outside the top 50 in a tie for 67th place.
“We know it's there,” Glaser said. “Tomorrow we will play tough and do our best to make a move up the leaderboard."
Florida will need to improve to 15th place if it hopes to move on to the final-fourth round, and keep its post-season alive.
Round 3 begins Sunday at 3 p.m.
Contact Alfredo Morales at amorales@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @amorales_95
Kelly Grassel lines up a shot during the 2015 SunTrust Gator Invitational at UF's Mark Bostick Golf Course.
