Windy weather and rough conditions were not enough to stop the Gators women’s golfers on Tuesday, as they put together a strong finish in the third and final round of play at the Ocean Course Invitational in Kiawah Island, South Carolina.
Florida sat in sixth place heading into the round, but the Gators posted the second-lowest team score to move up to a tie for third with Wake Forest, finishing behind only N.C. State and Florida State.
The Gators worked their way back into the mix despite difficult course conditions and winds, a testament to the resolve the team showed in the season-opening tournament.
“The conditions were tough today, much harder than yesterday,” coach Emily Glaser said in a release. “I know we were battling and it was good to see that. I thought we showed some toughness today, when it was easy to let the wind and the course beat you up. It was a tremendous learning week for us with a lot of positives.”
By the end of the tournament, four Florida golfers had finished in the top 25, headlined by redshirt freshman Elin Esborn. She shot a 72 in the third round, putting her at 2 under for the tournament and solidifying a fifth-place finish. Esborn was one of only seven golfers to finish the tournament below par.
“Elin was a bright spot this week. I was really impressed. She is a tremendous athlete and what I would call a ‘gamer,’” Glaser said. “I thought she handled direction very well and showed a lot of poise for her first college event.”
Fellow freshman Addie Baggarly turned in a 78 on Tuesday, the highest score of her three rounds, and it was enough to hold on to a tie for 20th with Kaeli Jones of UCF.
Other Gators to bounce back from struggles in the first two rounds included Carlotta Ricolfi, who moved up 16 spots on the leaderboard, and Marta Perez, who jumped up 22 spots. Both finished tied for 22nd place. Taylor Tomlinson placed 50th, meaning all five Gators starters ended up in the top 50.
While this was a quality finish to the first tournament of the season, Glaser knows there is a lot of work yet to be done and some room for improvement from her team.
“Overall, I am really excited by what I saw out of this young team,” Glaser said. “We need to work on our management and discipline. The Ocean Course requires your full attention and it exposed some weaknesses that we will hit head on.”
Florida, with only one returning senior, showed potential and will look to capitalize on that moving forward.
“It’s going to be really exciting to see how much we can improve and how good we can be this season,” Glaser said.
You can follow Tyler Nettuno on Twitter @TylerNettuno, and contact him at tnettuno@alligator.org.
Karolina Vlckova (right) celebrates with coach Emily Glaser during the 2015 Suntrust Gator Invitational at the Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville.
