At the Briar’s Creek Invitational, the Gators women’s golf team continued its dominant run during Monday’s first two rounds.
And the No. 5 team in the nation is looking to continue its success and defend its two-time championship status on the links in John’s Island, South Carolina today in the final round.
UF started off hot, and never relinquished its lead throughout the day, finishing 13 under par, 10 strokes ahead of Campbell University.
The Gators combined for three eagles and 34 birdies on the day and immediately padded their lead early on in the day in the field of 18 teams.
Seniors Maria Torres and Kelly Grassel did most of the heavy lifting for the Gators, knocking home 11 combined birdies in the first 18 and finishing round one with scores of 6 under and 3 under, respectively. Torres carded no bogies in the first round.
UF let up the onslaught slightly in the second round, but senior Karolina Vlckova picked up the slack with three consecutive birdies to kickstart a run of six total birdies on the back nine with no bogies.
Despite the late crash, coach Emily Glaser said she was encouraged by the way her team played.
“A lot of great execution, but also really impressed with the fight we showed as the wind began to blow and the golf course played more difficult throughout the afternoon,” Glaser said in a press release after Day One.
“In the afternoon, I saw a little more second guessing with the swirling wind but overall a lot of solid management. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, to see how the course plays and how we manage ourselves and our emotions."
UF’s three eagles came from Torres, freshman Marta Perez and junior Taylor Tomlinson, though it was Michigan State freshman Allyson Geer who had the most impressive one on the day, nailing a hole-in-one from 153 yards out on the par-3 17th.
Torres led most of the day among individual golfers, but slid down the boards late in the second round after posting three bogies on her last seven holes.
Play resumes today beginning at 8:45 a.m. and will only last one round.
Contact Morgan McMullen at mmcmullen@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @morganmcmuffin.
Individual Performances
Maria Torres T3 -4 (140)
Kelly Grassel T3 -4 (140)
Karolina Vlckova T9 -2 (142)
Taylor Tomlinson T27 +2 (146)
Marta Perez T33 +3 (147)
Maria Torres tees off during the 2015 SunTrust Gator Invitational at UF's Mark Bostick Golf Course.
