Juniors Marta Perez and Sierra Brooks headlined a massive day on the links for the Florida women’s golf team in Round 2 of the SEC Women’s Championships.
Slated as Florida’s No. 1 and No. 2 golfers, both played well at the Greystone Golf & Country Club with Perez shooting a 4-under 68 and Brooks carding a 3-under 69 to give Florida a comfortable six-stroke first place lead.
The Gators sit at 9 under as a team after Day 2, ahead of second-place South Carolina (3 under) and third place Arkansas (2 over) entering the final round of match play.
Perez sits alone atop the individual leaderboard at first place at 7 under while Brooks and Clara Manzalini trail not far behind tied for sixth at 1 under.
Perez started her day with a birdie on the first hole, and calmed down with eight consecutive pars to finish out the front nine. She picked up her play on the back nine, tallying four more birdies and just one bogey to hold her two stroke lead entering Friday.
Brooks, on the other hand, rebounded from her team-worst 2 over first round with three birdies and a bogey on the front nine. She continued this high level of play into the back nine, carding back-to-back birdies on 10 and 11 before picking up a double-bogey on hole 14.
Manzalini carded an even-par second round after tallying four birdies on the back nine, along with two bogeys and a double bogey overall.
Addison Baggarly entered Thursday off of her rollercoaster Round 1 performance in which she birdied on six of the first 11 holes and still finished the day at 1 over. Her mistakes rolled over from yesterday’s finish while her birdies didn’t, giving the sophomore a 2 over second-round finish after four bogeys and just two birdies on the day.
Baggarly wasn’t the worst score carded for Florida, though, as redshirt sophomore Elin Esborn finished the day at 3 over. Esborn’s day was clouded with bogeys, as she tallied four, along with a double bogey. Her three birdies on the back nine weren’t enough to revive her day, giving her a 2 over total and a tie for 21st place heading into the final day of match play.
Follow Victor Prieto on Twitter @victorprieto_11 and contact him at vprieto@alligator.org.
UF golfer Sierra Brooks carded a 3-under 69 to give Florida a six-stroke first-place lead in Round 2 of the SEC Women’s Championships.
