Florida Gators
Lady Wildcat Invitational
Blackwelder, Lady Gators Finish On Top At Lady Wildcat Invitational
Sunday, October 2, 2005 | Women's Golf
Freshman Mallory Blackwelder (Versailles, Ky.), and the Lady Gator golf team each claimed first place finishes at the Lady Wildcat Invitational in Lexington, Ky. Blackwelder shot a four-under 212, while the team recorded an 881 to beat second-place finisher North Carolina by 10 strokes.
This marks the first Lady Gator team title of the 2005-06 season, a feat it has not accomplished since the SunTrust Lady Gator during the 2003-04 year. Blackwelder is the first medalist for the women's golf squad since Aimee Cho claimed top honors at the 2003 SEC Championships.
“I'm proud of the way this team fought and hung in there to claim this victory,” said head coach Jill Briles-Hinton. “This is a team of hard workers and they all understand winning is a process. There was a lot of pressure on us going into this tournament, being the only ranked team in the field; when you're number one, everybody is gunning for you. In spite of the pressure the girls kept their individual goals in mind and worked hard to ensure they would come out on top.”
Blackwelder took the lead early in the tourney, firing a four-under 68 in round one to claim first place and eventually finish six-strokes ahead of the nearest competitors. After finishing second behind Kentucky following round one with a 296, the Lady Gators stepped it up in the second round with a top-10 all-time performance. The Orange and Blue's 288 in round two tied the sixth-best single round score in school history and was enough to put the team on top by six strokes heading into the third and final round of tournament action.
Sophomores Sandra Gal (Leichlingen, Germany) and Tiffany Chudy (Miramar) each posted top-ten finishes for the team, and improved on their day one tie in 11th-place. Gal claimed ninth with a 36-hole 222, while Chudy fired a 223 to finish the tourney in 10th. Senior Tarah McNaughton (Bradenton) shot a 232 to come away with a 35th-place finish and sophomore Whitney Myers (East Berlin, Pa.) carded a 36-hole score of 233 to round out the Lady Gator five in a tie for 40th.
Redshirt freshman Ornella Jouven (La Ciotat, France) recorded a three-round 220 to finish the competition in a tie for fourth-place, just eight strokes behind teammate Blackwelder. However, since Jouven competed in the tourney as an individual her score did not count toward the Lady Gator total.
North Carolina claimed the number two spot behind Florida, with a three-round total of 891. Miami took third with an 893, tournament-host Kentucky finished fourth with an 894 and Mississippi State recorded an 896 to claim the fifth-place spot.
The Lady Gator golf team returns to action Oct. 28-30 when it travels to Sandestin, Fla., for the Chrysler Challenge hosted by Florida State.
Team Results
| Place | Team | First Round | Second Round | Third Round | Total | Under/Over Par |
| 1. | FLORIDA | 296 | 288 | 297 | 881 | +17 |
| 2. | North Carolina | 302 | 288 | 301 | 891 | +27 |
| 3. | Miami | 300 | 299 | 294 | 893 | +29 |
| 4. | Kentucky | 291 | 299 | 304 | 894 | +30 |
| 5. | Mississippi St. | 303 | 303 | 290 | 896 | +32 |
Florida Results
| Place | Name | First Round | Second Round | Third Round | Total | Under/Over Par |
| 1. | Mallory Blackwelder | 68 | 71 | 73 | 212 | -4 |
| 9. | Sandra Gal | 76 | 72 | 74 | 222 | +6 |
| 10. | Tiffany Chudy | 75 | 73 | 75 | 223 | +7 |
| T35. | Tarah McNaughton | 81 | 72 | 79 | 232 | +16 |
| T40. | Whitney Myers | 77 | 81 | 75 | 233 | +17 |
| T4. | Ornella Jouven* | 70 | 74 | 76 | 220 | +4 |
*Competing as an individual
-UF-
