ATHENS, Ga. – The No. 12 Florida women’s golf team saved its best performance of the weekend for Sunday but couldn’t make up ground on the field at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic at the University of Georgia Golf Course.
Florida had a total of 308 and finished with a three-day total of 944 that left the Gators in 18th place. Florida finished 55 shots behind fourth-ranked Duke, which led wire-to-wire and finished with an 889 total. The Blue Devils also had the individual winner, Lindy Duncan, who also went wire-to-wire and finished with an 8-stroke victory with her 3-under-par 213 total.
“This tournament wasn’t a very good performance for us,” Florida head coach Jan Dowling said. “However, this golf course was extremely challenging. The greens were very fast and made even faster with the wind that we dealt with. The positive thing is that this weekend served as great practice for post-season and that’s what it’s all about. We will work on the things we need to address and take it from there.”
Freshman Mia Piccio shot the lowest round of the weekend for the Gators, her 2-over-par 74 leaving her in a tie for 28th place at 15-over 231. She was followed by sophomore Marika Lendl, who finished tied for 34th at 233 following a closing 5-over 77. Her sister Isabelle, a freshman, shot a 4-over 76 and finished at 23-over 239, tied for 69th. Sophomore Evan Jensen shot a 9-over 81 and finished tied for 81st place with a 25-over 241 total. Freshman Megan Pak finished 116th after shooting an 86 for 258 total.
Florida is off until it plays host to the SunTrust Gator Invitational April 10-11 at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.
LIZ MURPHEY COLLEGIATE CLASSIC
At par-72, 6,335-yard University of Georgia Golf Course, Athens, Ga.
TEAM SCORES: 1 (4) Duke 889 (300-300-289) (+25); 2. (6) Alabama 910 (318-302-292) (+46); 3. (39) Arkansas 912 (312-303-297) (+48); T4. (13) Purdue 915 (310-315-290) (+51) and (2) Auburn 915 (310-299-306) (+51); 6. (9) Wake Forest 921 (316-304-301) (+57); T7. (14) Michigan State 928 (314-307-307) (+64) and (34) North Carolina 928 (310-304-314) (+64); 9. (20) Denver 929 (321-312-296) (+65); 10. (21) Ohio State 931 (315-311-305) (+67); T11. (27) South Carolina 932 (324-309-299) (+68) and (15) Virginia 932 (320-311-301) (+68); 13. (46) Georgia State 933 (322-305-306) (+69); 14. (16) Georgia 934 (321-311-302) (+70); 15. (31) Tulane 937 (319-315-303) (+73); 16. (11) Tennessee 938 (318-319-301) (+74); 17. (33) Kent State 939 (320-309-310) (+75); 18. (12) Florida 944 (314-322-308) (+80); 19. (47) Furman 951 (323-319-309) (+87); 20. (50) Mississippi 952 (327-315-310) (+88); 21. UCF 974 (330-327-317) (+110); T22. Mississippi State 990 (342-333-315) (+126) and Georgia B 990 (329-340-321) (+126).
TOP 10 (and ties) INDIVIDUALS: 1. (11) Lindy Duncan (Duke) 213 (70-72-71) (-3); T2. Stacey Kim (Duke) 221 (76-75-70) (+5) and (19) Jennifer Kirby (Alabama) 221 (77-72-72) (+5); 4. Martina Gavier (Kent State) 223 (75-77-71) (+7); 5. (26) Kelli Shean (Arkansas) 224 (78-72-74) (+8); T6. (16) Nathalie Mansson (Tennessee) 225 (76-70-70) (+9). (2) Cheyenne Woods (Wake Forest) 225 (74-73-78) (+9) and (24) Marta Silva Zamora (Georgia) 225 (74-77-74) (+9); T9. (1) Cydney Clanton (Auburn) 226 (77-73-76) (+10), (20) Stefanie Kenoyer (Furman) 226 (78-75-73) (+10), (27) Laura Kueny (Michigan State) 226 (76-76-74) (+10) and (32) Maude-Aimee LeBlanc (Purdue) 226 (75-81-70) (+10).
FLORIDA 944 (314-322-308) (+80): T28. Mia Piccio 231 (79-78-74) (+15); T34. Marika Lendl 233 (77-79-77) (+17); T69. Isabelle Lendl 239 (82-81-76) (+23); T81. Evan Jensen 241 (76-84-81) (+25); 116. Megan Pak 258 (84-88-86) (+42).
Next: April 10-11, SunTrust Gator Women’s Golf Invitational at Mark Bostick Golf Course, Gainesville.