Florida Gators
Regional Challenge
Lady Gator Golfers Start Out Strong Against Tough Competition at Regional Challenge
Tuesday, February 14, 2006 | Women's Golf
Following day one action of the Northrup Grumman Regional Challenge the No. 25 University of Florida women's golf team sits in a tie for seventh place at the Palos Verdes Golf Club in Palos Verdes, Calif. The Challenge, hosted by Ohio State, features 15 Golfweek/Sagarin top-25 ranked teams.
Sophomore Whitney Myers (East Berlin, Pa.) leads the Lady Gators in a tie for 11th place after shooting a 74 on the day. Sophomore Sandra Gal (Leichlingen, Germany) fired a 76 to finish round one in a tie for 25th, while freshman Mallory Blackwelder (Versailles, Ky.) notched a 77 to finish tied for 33rd.
Sophomore Tiffany Chudy (Miramar) claimed a tie for 40th after posting a 78 and senior Tarah McNaughton (Bradenton) rounded out the five-person line-up with a score of 83 to finish the day in a tie for 71st place. Redshirt freshman Ornella Jouven (La Ciotat, France), who is competing at the Challenge as an individual, shot an 80, good for a tie in 56th-place. Lady Gator head coach Jill Briles-Hinton was pleased with the play of the Florida women in the first round, and optimistic they can each improve in the second.
“Whitney (Myers) had a good round today,” said Briles-Hinton. “Although her score at the end of the day might not be indicative of it, she shot the ball extremely well in the first round and hopefully she will have an even better round tomorrow. This course is so difficult, but if you play it right you can change your placing and scores dramatically.”
In the team standings Arizona State leads the pack, while Southern California and California sit in a tie for second. Wake Forest and UCLA occupy the fourth spot, while Oklahoma sits alone in sixth-place. Florida is tied with Stanford in seventh and Arkansas and 2005 Challenge champion Pepperdine round out the nine and ten spots.
“Right now we're tied for seventh place, but I didn't feel like we played up to our potential in the first round,” said Briles-Hinton. “We're still in position to move up tomorrow. For our team tomorrow is moving day, we'll tee it up and look to improve on today's start.”
Round two action at the Palos Verdes Golf Club tees off at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14. Full results will be available following the days play at www.gatorzone.com, while up-to-the minute scores via live-scoring can be accessed by visiting www.golfstat.com.
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