Florida women's golf coach Emily Glaser had brought her team to the NCAA Championships five times before this week.
After UF's finish at the NCAA Regionals on Wednesday, she can pack her bags for a sixth.
Glaser and the No. 10 Gators have another shot at the national title after finishing the regionals in a tie for second place with a score of even par at the Jimmie Austin Golf Club in Norman, Oklahoma.
“We accomplished our goal this week and that was to advance to nationals,” Glaser said in a release. “We did a great job this week of controlling the things we could and managing our emotions.”
UF entered the regional tournament as the third seed behind Texas and Wake Forest after closing out the 2018-19 regular season with two team titles, two individual titles and seven top-five finishes.
Florida got off to a good start on Monday. It registered a score of 4 under and sat atop the leaderboard after 18 holes.
Junior Sierra Brooks recorded five birdies and only one bogey on the first day, placing her in a tie for second at 3 under.
Freshman Clara Manzalini, however, had a rough start to the event.
She posted three bogeys, one double-bogey and failed to make a birdie in the opening round. Manzalini’s score of 5 over tied her for 69th place after the first day of the event.
Redshirt sophomore Elin Esborn was Florida’s best golfer in the second round of the regional tournament on Tuesday.
She registered three birdies and only one bogey the rest of the way to finish the second day with a team-best score of 2 under.
Esborn’s performance propelled her into the top 10, along with Brooks and junior Marta Perez, through 36 holes of the NCAA Regionals.
The Gators came into the final round of the event in second place with a score of 7 under, one stroke behind first-place Texas.
Florida never caught the Longhorns, however.
Each starter for the UF women’s golf team shot above par on the final day, except for Esborn, who came in at even par.
“We are looking forward to Arkansas,” Glaser said. “We are a more mature team than we were one year ago in Stillwater, and I’m excited to see what we can do.”
Follow Bryan Matamoros on Twitter @bmatamoros_. Contact him at bmatamoros@alligator.org.
