Florida Gators
Mercedes-Benz Classic
Lady Gator Golfers Tied for 11th at Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championships
Saturday, October 14, 2006 | Women's Golf
The University of Florida Lady Gator golf team shot an opening-round score of 307 (+23) Friday at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championships in Knoxville, Tenn. Florida will enter Saturday's second round on the par-71, 5,932-yard Cherokee Country Club golf course tied for 11th place in the 15-team field.
“This is a very difficult golf course with narrow holes. The cool weather is also making the ball fly shorter, and because of that, we need to be more aware of our ball flight. We also had a few too many three-putts today, and that cost us,” said ninth-year head coach Jill Briles-Hinton.
Redshirt sophomore Ornella Jouven (La Ciotat, France), who began the day in the No. 4 position for the Lady Gators, carded the team's lowest individual score of the day with a three-over 74. Jouven lost a stroke on the opening hole before dropping back to even with her first of three birdies on the fourth hole. After recording two additional bogeys on the sixth and ninth holes, she made the turn at two over. Jouven birdied the 11th and final holes, but a double bogey on the par-5 15th hole and bogey on the 16th hole cost her three strokes, and she finished the day tied for 18th place.
“Ornella is swinging the club very well and also putting really well,” said Briles-Hinton. “Overall, she played very consistently today, and she is more and more becoming one of our key players with each passing tournament.”
Junior captain Tiffany Chudy (Miramar, Fla.) finished round one two strokes behind Jouven with a 76, and is currently tied for 31st. Chudy notched two birdies on the day, but like teammates Mallory Blackwelder (Versailles, Ky.) and Eleanor Tucker (Wilson, N.C.), a triple bogey on the fourth hole penalized her by three strokes.
“The fourth hole is very narrow, and it caused us some slight setbacks today. We had some out-of-bounds on that tricky hole, and we learned that we need to be more aware of each club's tendencies and to play towards their strengths,” added Briles-Hinton.
Junior Whitney Myers (East Berlin, Pa.) finished just one stroke behind Chudy with a 77 to tie for 38th, while Tucker (80) and Blackwelder (82) finished the day tied for 55th and 65th places, respectively.
Redshirt sophomore C.J. Kim (Rowland Heights, Calif.) recorded a score of 86 while competing as an individual in her season debut, and enters Saturday's competition tied for 79th place.
“Tomorrow our primary focus will be to move into contention and put today's setbacks behind us,” Briles-Hinton concluded.
Auburn (287) finished Friday's competition three-over and holds a nine-stroke lead over Georgia (296) and the Swedish Junior National Team (296), who share second place. North Carolina (297) and Tennessee (298) round out the top five teams on the leaderboard.
The second round of action will get underway tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. Live scoring will be available at www.golfstat.com and www.gatorzone.com.
Leaderboard After Round One
| 1. | Auburn | 287 (+3) |
| T2. | Swedish Junior National Team | 296 (+12) |
| T2. | Georgia | 296 (+12) |
| 4. | North Carolina | 297 (+13) |
| 5. | Tennessee | 298 (+14) |
| T6. | Alabama | 303 (+19) |
| T6. | Arkansas | 303 (+19) |
| T8. | SMU | 304 (+20) |
| T8. | Michigan State | 304 (+20) |
| 10. | Kent State | 305 (+21) |
| T11. | Furman | 307 (+23) |
| T11. | FLORIDA | 307 (+23) |
| 13. | Penn State | 310 (+26) |
| 14. | Michigan | 314 (+30) |
| 15. | Northwestern | 316 (+32) |
Florida Individual Scores
| T18. | Ornella Jouven | 74 (+3) |
| T31. | Tiffany Chudy | 76 (+5) |
| T38. | Whitney Myers | 77 (+6) |
| T55. | Eleanor Tucker | 80 (+9) |
| T65. | Mallory Blackwelder | 82 (+11) |
| T79. | *C.J. Kim | 86 (+15) |
* - competing as an individual
-UF-
