Gators women’s golf wins tourney

The 9th ranked University of Florida women’s golf team was crowned Cougar Classic champions on Tuesday after finishing with a combined 12-under (852) after three days of play. The Florida Gators actually had one of their weaker days at the Yeamans Hall Club in the third and final round, but benefitted from their strong second round performance to hold on to a sizeable six stroke lead and keep the Duke Blue Devils (-6, 858) at bay. The win was also a great debut for new head coach Emily Bastel as this was her first tournament as the head Gator.

Sophomore Camilla Hedberg (Sitges, Spain) won her first tournament as a Gator Tuesday, shooting her third straight round under par and finishing at 13-under (203). Hedberg was strong the entire day, going over par only one time at the par three 3rd hole and scattering five birdies to go 4-under for the day, her second-best round of the classic. Hedberg was also the only player in the field to shoot all three rounds in the 60s and finished four strokes ahead of second place finisher, Lindy Duncan of Duke, who was the 2011 Ping/NGCA National Player of the Year.

“Camilla (Hedberg) played another steady round today,” Florida head coach Emily Bastel said. “She had to sleep on the lead last night and did a great job of handling her nerves today. I am excited for the great start to our season, especially at a tournament with such a great field. This is a great confidence builder for us.”

After Hedberg, the Gators were still represented well in the individual top ten leaderboard as seniors Isabelle Lendl (Goshen, Conn.) and Mia Piccio (Bacolod City, Philippines) both finished fifth and a tie for sixth, respectively. Lendl had her hardest day on the course Tuesday as she suffered five bogeys, but did earn two birdies at No. 5 and the 523-yard par five 9th hole, the longest hole on the course. The Connecticut native carded a 3-over for Tuesday’s round and ended up at 4-under (212) for the tournament. It’s Lendl’s best finish since the 2010 season when she tied for first at the Central District Invitational.

For Piccio, it was another solid round under par with six birdies to finish at 2-under (70) for the day. It was the second straight 70 round for the senior, who bounced back well from a 1-over performance on the first day to make up four strokes and finish one stroke out of the top five at 3-under (213). Piccio started her Tuesday round on the second hole and got things off to a good start with a birdie. A bogey at No. 4 dropped her back to even for the day, but then rattled off two more birdies before the turn at No. 7 and No. 9. A tough double bogey at the par three 13th was her only real blemish of the day as Piccio finished strong with birdies on three of her last five holes. The 213 total for Piccio was also new tournament low for her in her Gator career.

Freshman Ursa Orehek (Domzale, Slovenia) had a near identical round on Tuesday as she did on Monday with a 2-over (74) to go a combined 10-over (226) and finish in a tie for 65th. Sophomore Anna Young (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada) had the toughest day on the course, carding a 10-over (82) for the third round and finishing at 18-over (234) for a 107th place finish.

“The course played much differently today,” Bastel said. “The wind was up from the first two days, but the team did a great job handling the conditions.”

In the team standings, Duke followed Florida in second place at 6-under (858) while Southern Cal finished in third at 1-under (863). Vanderbilt and Georgia both rounded out the top five with the Commodores combining for an even par score (864) in fourth place and the Bulldogs going 3-over (867) for fifth place.  On the individual board, the Gators were the only school with three players in the top ten. Vanderbilt placed two golfers in the top ten.

UF will get short rest before its next tournament at the Dale McNamara Invitational in Tulsa, Okla. The tournament will take place Sept. 17-18 at the Golf Club of Oklahoma and will be the team’s last tournament for the month of September.

Final Team Scores- Cougar Classic

Place School Score

1 Florida 852 (-12)

2 Duke 858 (-6)

3 Southern Cal 863 (-1)

4 Vanderbilt 864 (E)

5 Georgia 867 (+3)

6 Auburn 870 (+6)

7 NC State 871 (+7)

8 Alabama 877 (+13)

T9 North Carolina 878 (+14)

T9 Tennessee 878 (+14)

11 Virginia 880 (+16)

12 Wisconsin 882 (+18)

13 Penn State 885 (+21)

T14 Ole Miss 892 (+28)

T14 UCF 892 (+28)

16 South Carolina 899 (+35)

17 Wake Forest 900 (+36)

18 LSU 902 (+38)

T19 College of Charleston 906 (+42)

T19 Miami 906 (+42)

21 Maryland 912 (+48)

22 UNCG 913 (+49)

23 Furman 919 (+55)

24 Charleston Southern 934 (+70)

Final Individual Top 10 – Cougar Classic

Place Player (School) Score

1 Camilla Hedberg (UF) 203 (-13)

2 Lindy Duncan (Duke) 207 (-9)

T3 Erica Popson (Tennessee) 211 (-5)

T3 Lauren Stratton (Vanderbilt) 211 (-5)

5 Isabelle Lendl (UF) 212 (-4)

T6 Mia Piccio (UF) 213 (-3)

T6 Marta Sanz (Auburn) 213 (-3)

T6 Kendall Martindale (Vanderbilt) 213 (-3)

T6 Christina Vosters (Penn St.) 213 (-3)

T10 Manuela Carbajo Re (Georgia) 214 (-2)

T10 Ashley Xiao (Duke) 214 (-2)

Final Florida Results – Cougar Classic

Place Players Score

1 Camilla Hedberg 69, 66, 68 (203) (-13)

5 Isabelle Lendl 67, 70, 75 (212) (-4)

T6 Mia Piccio 73, 70, 70 (213) (-3)

T65 Ursa Orehek 79, 73, 74 (226) (+10)

107 Anna Young 77, 75, 82 (234) (+18)

Courtesy UF Communications