Florida Gators
Auburn Derby
Lady Gators Climb Seven Places to Finish Fifth at Auburn Derby
Monday, October 30, 2006 | Women's Golf
University of Florida junior All-American Sandra Gal (Leichlingen, Germany) fired a one-under 71 (79-71-150) in Sunday's final round of the rain-shortened Auburn Derby to finish in a three-way tie for 11th place, after entering the final day of competition tied for 44th. Gal's finish propelled the Lady Gator golf team (313-297=610) to an equally impressive climb up the leaderboard, as it improved seven places from Saturday's opening round and finished tied for fifth place, marking the team's first top-five finish of the season.
The Lady Gators' final-round 297 was the second-lowest team round of the two-day, 36-hole affair, which was shortened from an originally scheduled 54-hole format after rain showers cancelled what was to be the opening round on Friday.
“This team could have easily finished in second place, but I'm happy with the improvement we made from yesterday to today,” said ninth-year head coach Jill Briles-Hinton. “I think we learned at this tournament the value of giving up so many strokes at the beginning of a tournament, and how it creates an unnecessary disadvantage. However, we did what we needed to do today to climb higher (in the standings), and I'm happy with that.”
Gal, the lone Lady Gator to card an even or better round on the par-72, 6,121-yard Auburn University Club, began Sunday's play on the 11th hole. With a birdie on her second hole, Gal remained at one under before gaining an additional stroke on the 15th hole. However, trouble repeated itself for Gal on the long par-5, 500-yard 16th hole, which she bogeyed Saturday, where a double bogey dropped her to even. After the turn, she cancelled out a bogey on the third hole with a birdie on the following, and remained even until her fourth birdie of the round came on the final hole.
“Sandra made the biggest improvement of our team, and one of the best improvements of the entire field. She just needed one more round to climb to the top, but after going halfway around the world last week and living up to today's tall order, I can't say enough about her,” said Briles-Hinton.
Also making an impressive improvement was sophomore Mallory Blackwelder (Versailles, Ky.), who entered the final round also tied for 44th and finished tied for 21st with a nine-over 153 (79-74). Junior captain Tiffany Chudy (Miramar, Fla.) shot her second-straight 77 and tied for 27th with a 154, while redshirt sophomore Ornella Jouven (La Ciotat, France) and junior Whitney Myers (East Berlin, Pa.) finished with scores of 155 to tie for 34th.
Redshirt sophomore C.J. Kim (Rowland Heights, Calif.) improved her first-round score by two strokes (81-79=160) to finish tied for 70th while competing as an individual.
Host Auburn (303-291=594) claimed its second-straight Derby title with a 12-stroke lead over second-place Alabama (308-298=606). Tennessee rounded out the top-three teams in the 17-team field with a 608 (309-299).
Florida will wrap up fall tournament action Nov. 3-5 when it travels to Orlando, Fla., for the Hooters Match Play tournament.
Final Team Standings
| Place | Team | Round 1 | Round 2 | Final |
| 1. | Auburn | 303 | 291 | 594 (+18) |
| 2. | Alabama | 308 | 298 | 606 (+30) |
| 3. | Tennessee | 309 | 299 | 608 (+32) |
| 4. | North Carolina | 301 | 308 | 609 (+33) |
| T5. | FLORIDA | 313 | 297 | 610 (+34) |
| T5. | LSU | 305 | 305 | 610 (+34) |
| T5. | South Carolina | 311 | 299 | 610 (+34) |
| 8. | Florida State | 309 | 303 | 612 (+36) |
| T9. | Birmingham-Southern | 315 | 300 | 615 (+39) |
| T9. | Nebraska | 310 | 305 | 615 (+39) |
| 11. | Mississippi | 309 | 308 | 617 (+41) |
| 12. | Baylor | 306 | 313 | 619 (+43) |
| 13. | Furman | 311 | 309 | 620 (+44) |
| 14. | UCF | 322 | 303 | 625 (+49) |
| 15. | Kansas | 327 | 309 | 636 (+60) |
| 16. | Mississippi State | 320 | 317 | 637 (+61) |
| 17. | Texas | 334 | 320 | 654 (+78) |
Final Florida Individual Standings
| Place | Individual | Round 1 | Round 2 | Final |
| T11. | Sandra Gal | 79 | 71 | 150 (+6) |
| T21. | Mallory Blackwelder | 79 | 74 | 153 (+9) |
| T27. | Tiffany Chudy | 77 | 77 | 154 (+10) |
| T34. | Ornella Jouven | 80 | 75 | 155 (+11) |
| T34. | Whitney Myers | 78 | 77 | 155 (+11) |
| T70. | C.J. Kim (I) | 81 | 79 | 160 (+16) |
-UF-
