Florida is a youthful team compared to last year. The squad brought in four freshmen to replace the four 2023-24 golfers that graduated in the spring. Florida head coach Emily Glaser said over the summer that the youth would have opportunities to make an immediate impact.
They did just that following a slow start in the first two rounds. UF showed great resilience, jumping five spots on the leaderboard on the last day of the event.
The Gators secured a fourth place finish at the 54-hole Cougar Classic in Charleston, South Carolina.
UF opened its first round with strong play, consistently remaining in the top five.
Freshmen Jessica Guiser and Addison Klonowski made their debuts in the starting lineup. Both excelled in their first round as Gators, making numerous elite putts.
Guiser opened with back-to-back birdies on the first two holes before recording ten straight par or better scores. The Wisconsin native finished the first round 1-over 72.
Meanwhile, Klonowski finished even on the front nine before hitting her stride on the back nine in the first round. She sank birdies on holes 14 and 16 and ended the round 1-under 70.
Sophomore Inés Archer also led the Gators’ early charge. She made par on her first five shots and pushed Florida into second on the leaderboard with a birdie on hole nine.
Not all Florida golfers, though, found success in the first round. Sophomore Paula Francisco and senior Sarunchana Rattanasin recorded zero combined birdies and 11 bogeys. The Gators hovered between second and fourth place throughout the first round and stood in fourth place at 4-over 288.
However, the squad couldn’t find the same success in round two.Florida’s front nine struggles continued as it opened the first three holes of the second round with four team-bogeys. The lone bright spot on the front was Francisco, who recorded three birdies and just one bogey.
Francisco continued her quality effort on the back nine, finishing the second round 1-under 70. The other four starters, however, did not record scores better than par.
UF dropped out of the top five and fell toward the bottom of the leaderboard near the end of the second round. Despite a late effort on the back nine that pushed the Gators back inside the top 10, Florida concluded the day 11-over 579, standing in ninth place after a 7-over 291 round two.
Freshman Elaine Widjaja made her UF debut in the individuals section. She recorded a 4-under 67 finish in round two and ended the day inside the top 15 on the individual leaderboard.
Florida only trailed four shots behind fourth place despite its inconsistent second round. The squad caught fire at the right time, securing a spot in the top five during the final round of play.
Another slow start in round three put the Gators in a tough spot early, as they fell to 12th on the leaderboard. However, the slump was short lived. They responded behind the strong front nine efforts of Guiser and Klonowski.
UF carried its momentum onto the back nine, advancing to fifth place behind consistent performances. Guiser notched a bogeyless back nine to finish the day 3-under 68, while Klonowski secured seven straight par or better holes to advance Florida into the top five.
The Gators finished the tournament in fourth place at 13-over 865.
The freshman duo of Guiser and Klonowski finished in the top 20 as Guiser shot 213, finishing T13. Klonowski finished 1-over 214 at T18.
Widjaja’s performance was the most notable for the Gators individually. She finished T8 at 2-under 211.
Florida will take to the course again at the Mary Fossum Invitational in East Lansing, Michigan. The 54-hole event will take place Sept. 22-23.
Contact Aiden Wacksman at awacksman@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter at @aidenwacksman.
