Emily Glaser made history on Sunday.
No. 8 Florida’s first-place finish in the Clemson Invitational marked its sixth victory of the season, the most under a Florida coach since the 1985-86 season, when Florida claimed 10-first place finishes on its way to an NCAA title.
Florida finished the final round with a one-stroke lead over Furman, enough to secure its fourth victory in a row before the SEC Championship on April 15.
"I’m really happy for the team. This win was hard fought," Glaser said in a release. "I was really impressed with our toughness this weekend. It wasn’t our best day, but we fought hard all the way to the end, and it paid off."
At the end of the first round on Friday, Florida secured a lead at 4 under par with No. 29 Houston just one stroke behind. The successful start was due in part to junior Karolina Vlckova who — thanks to four birdies — shot 3 under par, leading the Gators and placing herself in a tie for third.
In the second round, freshman Sam Wagner and Vlckova ended in a tie for first. Both recorded six birdies in the round, ending Saturday four strokes and three strokes under par, respectively. The rest of the squad, however, did not improve between Friday and Saturday.
Junior Kelly Grassel finished the first round at even par due to an even back-nine. Her second round, however, saw four bogies and a double bogey. Grassel finished Saturday in a tie for 33rd place at 6 over.
Sophomore Taylor Tomlinson’s first round was marred by a double bogey on the ninth hole, causing her to end Friday one shot over par.
The second round was not kind to Tomlinson.
Another double bogey on the second hole and three bogeys on the back nine led to a round score of 3 over par.
UF went into Sunday’s final round with a slight three-stroke lead with Furman University at its heels.
Team leaders Wagner and Vlckova were unable to improve or match their previous rounds. Wagner recorded her first over-par round since the Suntrust Gator Invitational, scoring one stroke over par. The Windermere native fell to fourth place due to three bogies on the front nine.
"I struggled in the beginning part of the round but was able to make it work," Wagner said in a release. "We all contributed to this win coming down the stretch, and it feels really great to finish out our regular season strong."
Meanwhile, Vlckova fell to fifth place with two bogeys on both the front and back nines. Vlckova ended the day with a round score of 2 over par, clinching the top-5 finish. However, both Wagner and Vlckova finished the tournament under par for the fourth time this season.
The rest of the lineup saw improvement on the last day, helping Florida secure its victory.
Tomlinson and junior Sydney Needham recorded their best round of the tournament Sunday, both scoring one stroke under par while Grassel matched her first round score of even on the final round. All three golfers improved their positions on the overall leaderboards. Tomlinson finished inside the top-25 in a tie for 15th, Grassel just missed out on a top-25 finish, ending in a tie for 26th, and Needham finished in a tie for 60th.
"I am extremely proud of how the entire team handled this week and today especially," Wagner said.
Contact Alfredo Morales at amorales@alligator.org and you can follow him on Twitter @amorales_95.
Karolina Vlckova (right) celebrates with coach Emily Glaser during the 2015 SunTrust Gator Invitational at UF's Mark Bostick Golf Course.
