For nine holes Friday, the Florida Gators were back in business in the second round of the NCAA East Regional women’s golf tournament on their home Mark Bostick Golf Course.
Coach Jill Briles-Hinton’s young team – with two freshmen, a sophomore and two redshirt sophomores – was just a combined 7-over-par as it headed to the back nine on the par-70, 6,023-yard, Bobby Weed-renovated, Donald Ross design.
Somewhere along the way, the Gators lost their momentum in the afternoon heat and winds and ended the day worse off than they started it – dropping from a tie for 15th place into solo 17th place, 14 shots out of eighth place with one round to make up that difference while also leapfrogging the eight teams they need to jump to get there.
“We’ve got a huge hill to climb,” Briles-Hinton admitted following Florida’s Friday effort of 21-over 301 that left the Gators with a two-day total of 606.
Hill? Can you say mountain?
“Who’s to say we can’t do it?” the coach said trying to stay positive.
If they do, the Lady Gators will have to figure out holes 10-18 quickly because those are the holes they will play first in Saturday’s final round. Friday, the five Florida golfers were a combined 22-over-par on those holes, making just two birdies, which offset just one of their four double bogeys (Florida also had a triple bogey).
“We had it going, but it just slipped away at the end,” Briles-Hinton noted. “Everyone struggled. I think that we started thinking where we were going on the leaderboard instead of taking it one shot at a time.”
No one had it going better than freshman Evan Jensen, who was 1-under-par at the turn and even through 12 holes before making three bogeys and a double on her next four holes for a back-nine 41 that left her bewildered. It added up to a round of 5-over 75 and a two-round total of 146, which left Jensen seven strokes behind second-round leader Camilla Lennarth of Alabama, which has the team lead by eight strokes over Denver.
“I felt I stayed patient until I started missing some greens and couldn’t get it up and down,” said Jensen, who hit just 10 greens in regulation, only two of them after the turn.
“I got out of the gate with a birdie on the first hole and kept it going,” added Jensen, who offset bogeys on Nos. 5 and 8 with birdies at Nos. 1, 6 and 7. But the momentum didn’t carry over.
Jensen’s round of 75 was one of three recorded Friday by the Gators – redshirt sophomore Lauren Uzelatz and freshman Andrea Watts followed their opening 78s with 75s and were at 153, a shot ahead of redshirt sophomore Nicole Schachner, who had a 76. Once again, sophomore Jessica Yadloczky, who earned All-SEC first-team honors two weeks ago, struggled and her score – an 8-over 78 (which followed her opening 79) – was thrown out.
The top eight teams and top two individuals not on those teams will advance from the East Regional to the NCAA Championship finals May 19-22 at the Tom Fazio-designed Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md. Right now, Georgia is in solo eighth place with a 592 total, and North Carolina, Furman, East Carolina, South Carolina, Coastal Carolina, Auburn, Mississippi and Florida State are between the Bulldogs and the Gators.
The Gators know they can’t afford to waste shots Saturday if they hope to advance, and with their afternoon tee times, they will have an idea what they need to do heading into their final nine holes.
“We’ve got absolutely nothing to lose,” Jensen said about the aggressive style the young Gators will have to employ.
Briles-Hinton, though, wants her players to take it one shot at a time.
“(Football coach) Urban (Meyer) talks about 4-6 seconds of relentless effort on every play,” she said. “We need 30-40 seconds of perfect mental concentration (on every shot).”
That’s not easy for any golfer to do. But the Lady Gators will have to give it the old college try Saturday or their season will be over.
NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
EAST REGIONAL
Results after Friday’s second round in the NCAA East Regional golf tournament, hosted by the University of Florida at the par-70, 6,023-yard Mark Bostick Golf Course. The top 8 teams and 2 individuals not on those teams advance with qualifiers from the Central and West Regionals to the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship finals May 19-22 at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md.
1. Alabama 575 (+15) 284-291 (Kathleen Ekey 71-76—147, Camilla Lennarth 69-70—139, Brooke Pancake 70-72—142, Rhea Nair 74-73—147, Courtney Harter 83-83—166).
2. Denver 583 (+23) 287-296 (Stephanie Sherlock 69-74—143, Dawn Shockley 73-70—143, Katie Kempter 69-77—146, Ellie Givens 79-75—154, Sarah Faller 76-79—155).
T3. Tennessee 585 (+25) 292-293 (Nathalie Mansson 69-72—141, Nicole Smith 75-77—152, Ginny Brown 73-73—146, Diana Cantu 77-75—152, Lauren Spurlock 75-73—148).
T3. Vanderbilt 585 (+25) 286-299 (Marina Alex 69-72—141, Brooke Goodwin 71-76—147, Andrea Messer 69-78—147, Megan Grehan 84-86—170, Jacqui Concolino 77-73—150).
5. Virginia 587 (+27) 290-297 (Calle Nielson 72-74—146, Whitney Neuhauser 71-74—145, Lene Krog 73-77—150, Kristen Simpson 77-72—149, Joy Kim 74-79—153).
6. Tulane 588 (+28) 292-296 (Linn Gustafsson 71-71—142, Daniela Holmqvist 76-76—152, Samantha Troyanovich 75-76—151, Janine Fellows 70-77—147, Ashley McKenney 76-73—149).
7. Duke 591 (+31) 298-293 (Amanda Blumenherst 77-73—150, Jennie Lee 71-72—143, Alison Whitaker 75-75—150, Kimberly Donovan 76-73—149, Yu Young Lee 76-76—152).
8. Georgia 592 (+32) 297-295 (Marta Silva 76-71—147, Mallory Hetzel 75-69—144, Carolina Andrade 73-77—150, Tess Fordham 73-78—151, Leigh Crosby 82-86—168).
9. North Carolina 594 (+34) 291-303 (Catherine O’Donnell 69-74—143, Allie White 74-75—149, Sydney Crane 75-74—149, Kate Thomas 76-82—158, Lauren Hunt 73-80—153).
10. Furman 595 (+35) 305-290 (Stefanie Kenoyar 76-71—147, Blair Lamb 73-70—143, Jackie Hilea 75-70—145, Brie Heinzler 81-81—162, Liz Wendt 84-79—163).
11. East Carolina 596 (+36) 283-313 (Ana Maria Puche 68-81—149, Colleen Estes 82-81—163, Amber Littman 73-78—151, Amy Otteson 74-79—153, Abby Bools 68-75—143).
T12. South Carolina 598 (+38) 308-290 (Benedicte Toumpsin 79-71—150, Katie Burnett 75-72—147, Corrine Carr 75-76—151, Taylor Barrett 80-72—152, Meredith Taylor 79-75—154).
T12. Coastal Carolina 598 (+38) 301-297 (Aruka Felgueroso 76-73—149, Ann Maness 78-79—157, Jessica Vincent 70-74—144, Alicia Grier 80-75—155, Carmen Jones 77-75—152).
T12. Auburn 598 (+38) 304-294 (Cydney Clanton 78-78—156, Patricia Sanz 76-73—149, Candace Schepperle 71-70—141, Haley Wilson 79-73—152, Sarah Thead 79-80—159).
15. Mississippi 600 (+40) 307-293 (Dori Carter 75-73—148, Ashley Lance 81-80—161, Sara Grantham 76-77—153, Jillian Brodd 80-74—154, Haley Milsap 76-69—145).
16. Florida State 604 (+44) 307-297 (Macarena Silva 77-73—150, Caroline Westrup 73-74—147, Whitney Wenglasz 80-87—167, Hannah Thomson 78-73—150, Lacey Agnew 79-77—156).
17. Florida 606 (+46) 305-301 (Jessica Yadloczky 79-78—157 T86, Evan Jensen 71-75—146 T19, Lauren Uzelatz 78-75—153 T69, Andrea Watts 78-75—153 T69, Nicole Schachner 78-76—154 T75).
18. UCF 611 (+51) 309-302 (May Tomimbang 82-79—161, Victoria Tomko 81-89—170, Elisa Aoki 80-77—157, Katie Detlefsen 75-77—152, Stephanie Connelly 73-69—142).
T19. College of Charleston 612 (+52) 302-310 (Fiona Puyo 79-76—155, Steffi Kirchmayr 74-80—154, Courtney Brink 74-78—152, Emily Rapp 76-86—162, Leigh Whittaker 78-76—154).
T19. Stetson 612 (+52) 309-303 (Danielle Jackson 78-72—150, Lauren Cate 73-73—146, Lauren Darnell 76-76—152, Christine Fraser 82-82—164, Alex Banham 83-88—171).
21. Jackson State 660 (+100) 324-336 (Mirielle LaBlanc 79-82—161, Jennifer Sells 85-85—170, Cammrynn Stith 76-83—159, Erica Payton 84-86—170, Amy Breakwell 94-91—185).
Individuals: Susannah Aboff (Princeton) 70-77—147 (+7), Julia Potter (Missouri) 72-75—147 (+7), Jessica Hollandsworth (Maryland) 76-71—147 (+7).
INDIVIDUAL TOP 15
1. Camilla Lennarth (Alabama) 69-70—139 (-1)
T2. Marina Alex (Vanderbilt) 69-72—141 (+1)
T2. Nathalie Mansson (Tennessee) 69-72—141 (+1)
T2. Candace Schepperle (Auburn) 71-70—141 (+1)
T5. Stephanie Connelly (UCF) 73-69—142 (+2)
T5. Linn Gustafsson (Tulane) 71-71—142 (+2)
T5. Brooke Pancake (Alabama) 70-72—142 (+2)
T8. Abby Bools (East Carolina) 68-75—143 (+3)
T8. Blair Lamb (Furman) 73-70—143 (+3)
T8. Jennie Lee (Duke) 71-72—143 (+3)
T8. Catherine O’Donnell (North Carolina) 69-74—143 (+3)
T8. Stephanie Sherlock (Denver) 69-74—143 (+3)
T8. Dawn Shockley (Denver) 73-70—143 (+3)
T14. Mallory Hetzel (Georgia) 75-69—144 (+4)
T14. Jessica Vincent (Coastal Carolina) 70-74—144 (+4)
TODAY’S TEE TIMES
No. 1
7:40-8:20 a.m.: Alabama, Denver, Tennessee
8:30-9:10 a.m.: Duke, Georgia, North Carolina
11:50 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Auburn, Coastal Carolina, Mississippi
12:40-1:20 p.m.: College of Charleston, Stetson, Jackson State
No. 10
7:30 a.m.: Julia Potter (Missouri), Jessica Hollandsworth (Maryland), Susannah Aboff (Princeton)
7:40-8:20 a.m.: Vanderbilt, Virginia, Tulane
8:30-9:10 a.m.: Furman, East Carolina, South Carolina
11:50 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Florida State, Florida, UCF