Women’s golf completes fall schedule

AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Florida women’s golf team completed play at the 2011 Betsy Rawls Invitational with their best finish of the fall season. The Gators finished tied for second in the 15-team field with a tournament score of 892 (285-304-303, +28). The Gators had a trio of top-15 finishers in Mia Piccio who finished 10th, and both Evan Jensen and Andrea Watts finishing in a tie for 15th place.

“We an opportunity to win on the final day and that’s all you can ask for,” head coach Jan Dowling said. “We just had too many mistakes today but we did finish strong. We finished three-under on the last two holes, so that just shows we didn’t give up.”

Both Jensen and Piccio held leads after the first and second rounds, respectively. Jensen carded a tournament total of 224 (+8) while Piccio shot a 54-hole total of 221 (+5). Watts, who recorded her best finish of the year, also shot a 224 (+8) for the tournament.

Isabelle Lendl shot an 11-over 227, recording her best finish of the season in doing so with a tie for 25th. Freshman Camilla Hedberg finished off a solid fall season with a 13-over 229.

Freshman Lena Weichselgartner turned in a 242 (+26) in her first collegiate event. Weichselgartner was competing as an individual.

With the conclusion of the Betsy Rawls Invitational, also comes the conclusion of the Gators’ fall season. The women’s team will compete next on February 12, 2012 at the Northrup Grumman Challenge in Palos Verdes, California. The tournament will be played at Palos Verdes Golf Course and will be hosted by Ohio State.

“There were some very good individual performances and we had two top-three finishes as a team in a very tough fall schedule,” Dowling explained. “This team is very close to being a very, very good team. We need to use our close finishes as motivation and come out as a better team in the spring.”