The Florida women’s golf team will look to defend its title at the Gators Invitational presented by Vystar Credit Union from Sunday to Tuesday.
This tournament comes at the perfect time for the Gators. After a mediocre showing at the Moon Golf Invitational, they will return to their home turf this week in a prime opportunity to get right.
The Gators dominated the invitational recently and won five straight, seven in the last 10 years and 23 total. They have only finished outside of the top three once in the last decade. Florida annihilated the 2020 Gator Invitational, winning the tournament by 18 strokes.
Redshirt senior Marta Perez led the Gators and finished second overall individually.
Florida invites a stacked field to Gainesville this year. Ten top-30 teams will compete at the Mark Bostick Golf Course this week, including No. 4 Ole Miss and No. 10 Georgia. Florida is currently ranked 16th in the country, and a win at the Gators Invitational could launch the team into the top 10.
The Florida lineup will feature four of five players who appeared in the Moon Golf Invitational. Sophomore Annabell Fuller will be the No. 1 this week after she finished 10th individually in the opening tournament of the spring. At last year’s Gators Invitational, Fuller came in a tie for third place individually.
Senior Addie Baggarly will serve as Florida’s No. 2. Baggarly shot 2-over-par at the Moon Golf last week and finished in a tie for 31st.
Florida’s No. 3 will be Marina Escobar. The sophomore struggled in the first tournament of 2021 but had a solid fall campaign, which featured a third place at the2020 East Lake Cup.
Last week’s No.1, junior Jenny Kim, will be the Gators’ No. 4 golfer this week. Kim made her first appearance in the lineup since her freshman year last week and shot 6-over-par.
Freshman Maisie Filler will make her spring debut as No. 5. Filler replaces redshirt senior Elin Esborn and appeared in all three of Florida’s tournaments during the shortened fall season. Her best finish came at the East Lake Cup, where she tied for 13th.
The three-day tournament will begin Sunday as the Gators tee off at 8:30 a.m.
Contact Michael Hull at mhull@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @Michael_Hull33
Michael Hull is a fourth-year journalism sports & media major and a sports writer at The Alligator. He hosts the weekly sports podcast and has worked on staff for five semesters. In the past, Hull has served as the sports editor, the men's and women's golf beat writer, the volleyball beat writer and the football beat writer.
