W. Golf in Second at Mason Rudolph Championship

Friday, September 26

Nashville, TN

12:00 AM

Florida Gators

Mason Rudolph Championship

W. Golf in Second at Mason Rudolph Championship

Friday, September 26, 2003 | Women's Golf

FRANKLIN, Tenn. -- Three Lady Gators carded a one-under par in the first round of the Mason Rudolph Championship to put Florida in second place at the three-day tournament. The No. 9 UF golf team is only six strokes behind the first-place UCLA Bruins.

"We played pretty well today," head coach Jill Briles-Hinton said. "Tarah [McNaughton] had an outstanding round, as did Aimee [Cho] and Naree [Song]."

Freshman Naree Song (Bradenton, Fla.) and sophomores Aimee Cho (Orlando, Fla.) and Tarah McNaughton (Bradenton, Fla.) are tied for sixth place as they carded a 71 in the first round of competition. McNaughton's round of 71 is a career-best.

Junior Andrea Vander Lende (Longwood, Fla.) is tied for 28^th place with a 74, and sophomore Camila Gonzalez (Bucaramanga, Columbia) is tied for 83^rd place after she carded an 83.

The tournament field features 12 teams ranked in the latest NGCA Coaches' Poll, and six of those teams are ranked in the top 10 (Auburn, 2; Arizona, 3; UCLA, 5; Vanderbilt, T6; Southern Cal, 8; UF, 9).

"We have some solid competition here," Briles-Hinton said. "We're playing against some of the best teams in the country. We just have to stay focused and committed to our goals."

Florida is making its second appearance in the Mason Rudolph Championship. The Lady Gators finished ninth in the 2001 tournament.

The Lady Gators will tee off tomorrow morning for the second round of competition. The tournament, hosted by Vanderbilt, will end Sunday, Sept. 28.

First Round Results

Fin. Teams Scores

1 UCLA 281

2 Florida 287

3 Georgia 288

4 Furman 290

Vanderbilt 290

6 Arizona 292

7 Auburn 294

8 Wake Forest 296