Coming off of a win at the Chattanooga Classic, the No. 24 Florida women’s golf team entered the SEC Championship looking to continue its strong close to the regular season. The team had five regular season wins, making UF a contender against any school in the nation. However, the SEC has five top 15 schools, making it, perhaps, the most competitive conference in the country.
In the past, the Gators have been strong adversaries at the SEC Championship. The team has won eight SEC titles since its first season in 1972. In the past two SEC tournaments, it has reached match play, but hasn’t made it any further. Its last title came in 2017.
This season, Florida had a young but successful roster led by freshman Jessica Guiser, the only UF golfer to win a solo tournament this season. Alongside her on the box was redshirt freshman Addison Klonowski, redshirt sophomore Karoline Tuttle and sophomores Ines Archer and Paula Francisco.
Throughout the year, their limited experience has led to them starting meets slowly. This was noticeable again during stroke play at the tournament. After round one, Florida was in sixth place, but after 36 holes, it fell outside of the cut in ninth place.
In the final round of stroke play, the Gators had two players notch scores below 70, allowing them to surge into seventh place. Klonowski shot her best round of the week with a 5-under 67.
Archer was able to improve upon her play as well with a 4-under 68.
After earning the No. 7 seed in match play, the Gators faced No. 2-seeded LSU. Florida swept the Tigers 5-0 in the competition. Tuttle was the Gators star as she defeated her opponent 6-5. She won three straight holes to give Florida its first point of the day.
In the semifinals, Florida matched up with No. 6-seeded Arkansas. In the quarterfinals, Klonowski continuously made clutch plays. She led by one on 18 when she hit her shot off the tee into the straw. However, she managed to hit her next shot close enough to knock it in for par, winning the match for Florida 3-2.
The final round — for the SEC Championship — was between Florida and No. 1-seeded South Carolina. The Gators opened strong against the Gamecocks, going up 2-0-3 once all five pairs were out. However, South Carolina’s age and experience began to show after the turn. It won the match 3.5-1.5 following a tie between Francisco and Gamecocks senior Hannah Darling.
Despite falling in the finals, the Gators will still continue in the postseason. NCAA Regional competition will begin on May 5, with location selection on April 23. As it stands, Florida may play in any of six locations, including Arizona, Oklahoma, Virginia, Kentucky, Texas or Ohio.
Contact Brooke Bastedo at bbastedo@alligator.org. Follow her on X @BrookeBastedo.
