UF teed off Monday morning at the Briar’s Creek Invitational in Johns Island, South Carolina looking to defend its title.
The No. 8 Gators played two rounds, ending the day in first place with three strokes separating them from second-place Indiana.
Florida persevered a rocky start, finding themselves in fifth place at the end of the first round.
“I’m really happy with the bounce-back effort this afternoon,” coach Emily Glaser said in a release. “The conditions were tough today, and it got the best of us a few times, especially in the morning. We hung tough and were able to finish off round two. Our patience was exceptional today.”
Freshman Sam Wagner, who led Florida’s lineup in both rounds today, found herself alone in the top 25 after the round one.
The Windermere native ended the first round in a tie for fifth with a final score of 2 under par. Wagner’s first round featured five birdies, with back-to-back birdies in the 13th and 14th holes. Her back-nine play kept Wagner grounded, however, as she scored bogeys in the 11th, 15th and 18th holes.
At the other end of the team’s leaderboard, sophomore Taylor Tomlinson found herself sharing 91st place at the end of the first round. The Gainesville native began the tournament with a bogey on the 5th hole and a triple bogey to follow.
Tomlinson would go on to score three more bogeys on the 16th, first and fourth holes and a quadruple bogey on the 13th hole. The sophomore finished with a first round score of 11 over par.
Junior Kelly Grassel, who finished second overall at the invitational last year, was unable to repeat last year’s success in the first round, due fully to the back nine. Her front-nine performance included 3 birdies on the first, fifth and ninth holes.
Grassel’s score was weighed down due to six bogeys through the back-nine holes. The junior finished the first round with a score of 3 over par, and in a tie for 39th place.
Juniors Maria Torres and Karolina Vlckova both ended the first round sharing 27th place with 2 over par. Vlckova was bogged down by a double bogey on the 17th hole, while Torres’ back-nine included four bogeys.
In the second round, however, Florida found its stride.
By the 12th hole of the round, UF found itself in a first-place tie with Florida State.
The Gators and No. 20 Seminoles both climbed four and two spots respectively after a less-than-stellar first round. Yet, it was Florida that found itself in the driver’s seat by the end of the 18th hole, and Florida State dropped back to third place, where they started the round.
UF’s climb to the top was due to significant individual improvements across the board.
Wagner showed improvement in her back-nine, improving to 3 birdies and just one bogey on the fourth hole. The freshman sat in second place until she began her front nine. Bogeys on the first and second holes brought her down to a tie for fourth, but a final birdie in the fifth hole landed her in a tie for third.
Meanwhile, Tomlinson showed significant improvement in score but not much in placing. Tomlinson’s second round was marred by yet another triple bogey, this time in the 16th hole. Her three birdies in the round were cancelled out by two bogeys in the front nine and one in the back nine. Tomlinson finished the second round with a score of three over par, improving six spots to 85th place.
Grassel found herself in the top 10 with round two score of five under par, an eight-stroke improvement from her first round. The junior’s improvement was also reflected in the leaderboards, as she jumped up 32 spots to a tie for seventh.
Grassel showed the most improvement in the back-nine, hitting one birdie in the 10th hole and the rest even. In her front nine, Grassel also improved from three to four birdies.
Torres showed similar results to a similar problem. Having also been plagued by the back nine, the Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, native also scored a birdie in the 10th hole, and scored even par the rest of the nine. However, her front nine only featured one birdie. Fortunately, his was enough to bring Torres to a tie for 12th place.
Unfortunately for Vlckova, her second-round improvement in score was not enough to garner a climb in the leaderboards. The junior fell from a shared 27th to a shared 31st place, after a round two score of one over par.
While Vlckova had four birdies and only one bogey in the second round, two double-bogeys in the sixth and 16th holes marred her scorecard.
“We have to be ready to adapt tomorrow, as it will be quite cold in the morning. The pins will be different, potentially a little tougher, so I’m looking forward to seeing how we respond.” Glaser added.
The Gators hit the links today at 8:30 to play the final round of the invitational.
Follow Alfredo Morales on Twitter @amorales_95.
Maria Torres tees off during the 2015 SunTrust Gator Invitational at UF's Mark Bostick Golf Course.
