Sierra Brooks’ career at Florida is off to an impressive start.
The sophomore transfer from Wake Forest won her first tournament with the Gators at the Florida Challenge on Jan. 29.
Now, Brooks can add a new tournament to her list of wins: the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate Golf Championship in New Orleans, where she finished at the top of the individual leaderboard and propelled Florida to its first victory of 2018.
She displayed a masterful three rounds of golf, finishing four strokes ahead of the competition with a 7 under.
Brooks’ emergence appears to be the missing key for Florida, as it had previously finished in the top four in four of five tournaments this season but had yet to win one prior to the Sugar Bowl.
“This is definitely the start to an exciting year for us,” Brooks said in a release.
The final day of the competition saw a complete performance from the Gators’ entire lineup, which ran away from the pack as the round progressed. Florida finished nine strokes ahead of second-place USC and 15 strokes ahead of third-place Michigan State.
Behind Brooks was sophomore Marta Perez who shot a 2 under on Tuesday, the second-best score of the day. This brought her tally down to 2 over, moving her up 10 spots into a tie for sixth.
Senior Taylor Tomlinson finished third on the team at 6 over after shooting 3 over in the final round.
Sophomore Carlotta Ricolfi ended the Sugar Bowl nicely after a rough second round, closing out with a 2 over on Tuesday. That brought her overall score up to 11 over, tied for 32nd.
Freshman Addie Baggarly also tied for 32nd, shot 2 over and finished with an overall score of 11 over.
Redshirt freshman Elin Esborn continued to dazzle on Tuesday. Esborn competed as an individual after a rough showing at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes, California, in mid-February.
She finished tied for fourth after finishing with a third-round score of 1 under and an overall score of 2 under. Had she been inserted into the starting lineup, the Gators would have won by 22 strokes.
“We talked yesterday after the round about controlling our emotions and have better attitudes, and they really bought in,” coach Emily Glaser said in a release. “It paid off today.”
Follow Chris O'Brien on Twitter @THEChrisOB and contact him at cobrien@alligator.org.
Redshirt sophomore Elin Esborn helped UF to a fourth-place finish at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invite, placing in a tie for seventh and ending the tournament at 1 over.
