Florida Gators
Lady Puerto Rico Classic
Lady Gator Golfers Win Second Tournament of the Year in Puerto Rico
Monday, February 27, 2006 | Women's Golf
The Florida women's golf team claimed the top spot at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Lady Gators maintained their day two placement in the top spot at the par 72, 6,000-yard Dorado Del Mar golf course at the Puerto Rico Golf Resort. Sophomore Whitney Myers (East Berlin, Pa.) took an individual finish in second place, to lead the team to its second tournament win of the year.
Myers fired a 74 in the final round to notch her best three-round score of the season with a 216 (73-69-74=216). Head coach Jill Briles-Hinton was proud of the way her team played, and happy they could come away with the win.
“Going into today there four teams in contention to win the tournament,” said Briles-Hinton. “It was a good match for us, our putts were rolling in, shots were being made where they needed to be, and the girls hung in there and fought hard to the end. We did really well on some crucial holes to win the match.”
Sophomore Sandra Gal (Leichlingen, Germany) climbed up the standings throughout the tourney to finally land in a tie for sixth. Gal shot a 73 on the day to finish with a total of 221 (77-71-73=221). Freshman Brittany Nelson (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) finished in a tie for 18th in her collegiate debut, as she put up a final score of 224 (74-76-74=224), while freshman Mallory Blackwelder (Versailles, Ky.) claimed a tie for 25th after she shot her best round of the tournament on day three with a 73 (77-76-73=226).
Sophomore team captain Tiffany Chudy (Miramar) finished in a tie for 28th with a total score of 227 (75-77-75=227). Redshirt freshman Ornella Jouven (La Ciotat, France), competing as an individual, notched a 75 (76-73-75=224) for the day to claim a share of 18th-place. Briles-Hinton felt the team grew a lot over the course of the three rounds they played this weekend, and was pleased with their performance.
“I'm so proud of the effort this team put in over the weekend,” said Briles-Hinton. “They really grew a lot throughout this tournament. They got some quality experience and went head-to-head with some of the top teams in the nation. They maintained their composure when the pressure set in to stay on top and performed at a high level all three days.”
“Whitney had an outstanding tournament,” Briles-Hinton continued. “She has been working hard and is one of the players who grew quite a bit over the weekend. Ornella had another fantastic outing, she was the top finisher out of the individual players, and across the board we did really well.”
In the team standings, No. 9 Arkansas finished in second place, while No. 3 Purdue took third. No. 23 Oklahoma State finished in fourth and No. 21 Kent State rounded out the top five. With the victory at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic, this marks the first season the Lady Gators have recorded multiple tournament team wins since the 2001-02 season.
Next up the Florida women return to the course for the Lady Gator Invitational in Gainesville, Fla., on their home course, the University of Florida Golf Course. Invite action will take place March 11-12.
Lady Gator Round Three Results
| Name | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total | Place | Rel. To Par |
| Whitney Myers | 73 | 69 | 74 | 216 | 2 | E |
| Sandra Gal | 77 | 71 | 73 | 221 | T6 | +5 |
| Ornella Jouven* | 76 | 73 | 75 | 224 | T18 | +8 |
| Brittany Nelson | 74 | 76 | 74 | 224 | T18 | +8 |
| Mallory Blackwelder | 77 | 76 | 73 | 226 | T25 | +10 |
| Tiffany Chudy | 75 | 77 | 75 | 227 | T28 | +11 |
* - Competing as an individual
Team Standings Following Round Three
| Name | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total | Rel. To Par |
| 1 Florida | 299 | 292 | 294 | 885 | +21 |
| 2 Purdue | 295 | 297 | 295 | 887 | +23 |
| 3 Arkansas | 298 | 294 | 296 | 892 | +28 |
| 4 Oklahoma State | 300 | 296 | 296 | 892 | +28 |
| 5 Kent State | 297 | 301 | 305 | 903 | +39 |
| 6 Texas A&M | 309 | 302 | 295 | 906 | +42 |
| 7 Tulsa | 308 | 299 | 304 | 911 | +48 |
| 8 North Carolina | 301 | 303 | 308 | 912 | +48 |
| 9 TCU | 307 | 301 | 307 | 915 | +51 |
| 10 Oklahoma | 312 | 308 | 301 | 921 | +57 |
| 11 South Carolina | 306 | 312 | 304 | 922 | +58 |
| 12 Wisconsin | 320 | 310 | 309 | 939 | +75 |
| 13 East Tennessee State | 319 | 316 | 311 | 946 | +82 |
| 14 Iowa State | 327 | 309 | 329 | 965 | +101 |
| 15 Indiana | 322 | 321 | 326 | 969 | +105 |
| 16 Minnesota | 328 | 328 | 320 | 976 | +112 |
-UF-
