Women’s golf falters, falls to fourth-place finish at Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invite
The Gators knew that heading into Sunday’s final round they would be in a duel with fourth-place Baylor. They were a stroke ahead of the Bears with insurmountable margins between Florida and second-place Kent State and Baylor and fifth-place SMU.
Both teams didn’t have their best round on Sunday, but Baylor’s even round was six strokes ahead of Florida’s. The Gators wound up in fourth place, 26 strokes behind champion and host Texas.
Redshirt sophomore Elin Esborn (+1), junior Marta Perez (+2) and freshman Clara Manzalini (+4) gave the Gators three players in the top 15 for the tournament.
Esborn led the team after all three days of the tournament. Her best round was a one-under-par 71 on Saturday. She followed that up with a 73 on Sunday, finishing in a tie for seventh individually.
Perez wasn’t far behind, closing out the weekend in a tie for 10th. Her final round was off to a rough start after carding three bogeys on the first eight holes. She recovered, though, and scored three birdies and only one bogey over the final 10 holes for a 73.
Manzalini continued her solid debut fall season with a tie for 14th place after carding a 72, her best of the tournament. Her first eight holes were a mixed bag with three bogeys and two birdies. She settled down over her last 10 with two birdies and only one bogey.
The Gators were held back by underwhelming weekends from junior Sierra Brooks (+10) and sophomore Lauren Waidner (+16). Brooks had been off all weekend, but her 77 on Sunday was her worst of the weekend and put her in a tie for 30th. Waidner’s 81 on Saturday was the worst on the team. She finished in a tie for 48th.
The Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invite was the Gators’ final fall tournament. They did not finish a tournament worse than fourth this fall.
“Not our best week of the way we envisioned finishing the fall but in all honesty, probably a blessing in disguise,” coach Emily Glaser said in a release.
“Overall this fall, we have a lot to be proud of and I think we know this team is capable. The discipline that we show in the offseason will be the turning point for us.”
Men’s golf opens final fall tournament at Tavistock Collegiate Invitational
Sunday also saw the men’s golf team trek down to Orlando to begin its own final tournament of its fall schedule at the Tavistock Collegiate Invitational.
This tournament is one that the Gators have done very well at in previous years. They won it in 2016 and placed second last year.
Though the Gators carded a 2-under as a team — not good enough for first or second — it did place them in a tie for fifth. They are one stroke behind fourth-place Texas Tech and two back of a tie for second, but leader Vanderbilt is 10 strokes ahead.
Sophomore Chris Nido’s torrid start sparked a 4-under day for him, and he sits in a tie for fifth place individually. He had three birdies on the front nine, and while he only had one more birdie on the back nine, he did not score a single bogey.
Sophomore John Axelsen and freshman Aden Ye had even rounds to place them in a tie for 27th. Freshman Eugene Hong (+2) ended Sunday in a tie for 45th and senior Gordon Neale (+4) is in a tie for 54th.
Follow Brendan Farrell on Twitter @Bfarrell727 or contact him at bfarrell1@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.
