Senior Isabelle Lendl (Goshen, Conn.) won the individual title at the Tar Heel Invite Sunday afternoon by three strokes after firing a final round 69, her best round of the weekend. The win is Lendl’s second straight in as many starts and the third of her career as she was also the winner of the Dale McNamara Invitational last month. The senior finished with a final score of 6-under (210) for the tournament, three shots better than Baylor’s Hayley Davis, who was the leader in the clubhouse after the first two days of play.
Lendl had a nearly flawless round on Sunday as she holed six birdies with the only setback coming at the par-four, 10th hole, where she suffered a triple-bogey. She was 3-under at the turn before the triple, but bounced back extremely well to rattle off three birdies on the next three holes and get back to 3-under for the day. Lendl finished the day at 3-under and was the only player in the field to shoot better than 70 in the final round. The 69 is the Connecticut native’s third round in the 60s for the fall season and third best personal score for the year. Her 210 tournament score also ties for her career-best as the last time she achieved that score was also at the Dale McNamara Invite last month.
“I am really proud of Isabelle (Lendl),” Florida head coach Emily Bastel said. “Back to back wins is very impressive. She bounced back from a triple today on number ten and it showed there was no give up in her.”
For the rest of the team, the same magic that Lendl found was hard to come by. Combined, the Gators finished the tournament in 9th place with a final score of 31-over (895). There were some bright spots on the course, however, as sophomore Anna Young (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada) had her best outing of the weekend with a 7-over (79). Young was able to keep the bogeys to a minimum and spread out enough pars to shoot under 80 and finish in 92nd-place overall with a 29-over (245).
Sophomore Camilla Hedberg (Sitges, Spain) had an up and down day on Sunday. After double-bogeying No. 2 and then bogeying No. 4, Hedberg seemed to right the ship with two straight birdies on No. 6 and No. 7, which got her to 1-over for the day, but a bogey at the turn on No. 9 took away some of that momentum as she was only able to birdie one more hole before the end of her day. The Spaniard finished the day at 5-over (77), but still completed the weekend in the top-20 as she tied for 19th place at 6-over (222).
Rounding out the remaining Gators in the lineup, junior Elcin Ulu (Istanbul, Turkey) finished tied for 60th in her first tournament as a Gator after shooting a final round 77, placing her at 16-over (232) for the tournament. Finally, freshman Ursa Orehek (Domzale, Slovenia), competing in only the third collegiate tournament of her career, finished tied for 87th after a third round 87. For the tournament, Orehek finished at 23-over (239).
“We have a lot to learn from this tournament,” Bastel said. “We won’t waste any time getting prepared for Texas and I am happy we get to compete again this fall.”
The Gators next and final tournament of the fall season comes on Oct. 28-30 at the Betsy Rawls Invitational in Austin, Texas. The tournament is hosted by the University of Texas and will be played at the UT Golf Club on the campus of the University of Texas.
Courtesy of UF Communications