By: Amanda Barina
FRANKLIN, Tenn. – The Florida Gators women’s golf team fell from 8th to 11th place, despite improving their overall team score by seven strokes in the second round of the Mason Rudolph Fall Preview concluded earlier this afternoon at the Vanderbilt Legends golf course in Tennessee.
Better conditions and more knowledge of the course resulted in almost the entire field playing better today compared to yesterday.
“We didn’t really make up much ground, which is disappointing,” Florida head coach Jan Dowling said, “but our team worked really hard for the score that we got today. I’m very proud of how hard they worked.”
The conclusion of the second round leaves UCLA in first place with a two day total of 579 (+3), after an impressive team performance of 283 (-5) today. Following UCLA is Alabama (+9), moving up from third place. The Gators stand at 11th place, earning 296 (+8) today and a combined two day score of 599 (+23). Friday’s leader, USC, fell to 7th place after a +12 finish for the afternoon.
Freshman Camilla Hedberg led the team with another impressive performance resulting in a 73 (+1) for the day, giving her a total of +2 so far in the tournament. She is tied for 15th place individually.
Florida’s Mia Piccio shot 74 (+2) today, giving her +5 for the two days. Following her is Isabelle Lendl, also +2 for the day and +7 for the weekend; Evan Jensen with a 75 (+3) today and +9 total; and Andrea Watts, improving her score five strokes from yesterday for a 77 (+5) today and a total of +15.
“I think the girls are really proud of how hard they fought,” coach Dowling said, “We’re looking forward to coming back out tomorrow and giving it all we got.”
The third and final round will begin tomorrow with tee times starting at 8:30 EST.