Florida Gators
Tar Heel Invitational
Women's Golf Tied for Third After Opening Round of Tar Heel Invitational
Friday, October 8, 2010 | Women's Golf
The UF women's golf team is in a tie for third place at the end of the first round of the 35th-annual Tar Heel Invitational. The Gators recorded a team score of 288 (E) at the par-72, 6,285-yard UNC Finley Golf Course in Chapel Hill, N.C.
“We put up a decent score but I feel like we are scratching the surface with this team,” Florida Head Coach Jan Dowling said. “We just hung in there all day. It was a grind for the team. The par-5's I feel like we could have played a little bit better and we would have been under par for sure.”
The Gators were led by junior Evan Jensen (Belleair, Fla.) who completed her day tied for eighth overall after posting a two-under 70. Jensen made bogey at No. 10 to begin her round but recovered nicely with back-to-back birdies on 11 and 12. After a bogey on 14, she bounced back with three pars followed by a birdie on 18 to get to one-under at the turn. Jensen went birdie-bogey on 1 and 2 and finished the round with six pars and a birdie on the par-3 eighth.
Despite her position on the leaderboard, she was not completely satisfied though Dowling was pleased with her performance.
“I played really steady,” Jensen stated. “I did not birdie any of the par-5's and I should be able to do that since they are not that long but I have been hitting the ball pretty well.”
“Evan is a great ball-striker and she stays very even-keel,” Dowling said. “She never gets too high or too low and I think that is a huge key to her consistency.”
Sophomore Isabelle Lendl (Goshen, Conn.) returned to the lineup after not playing in the Mason Rudolph Women's Championship two weeks ago and had a successful return as she carded a 71 (-1) and is tied for 13th overall. Lendl made a statement immediately with a birdie on her opening hole. She added another on 15 and finished the back nine at two under par. Her lone bogey of the day came on No. 1 and she completed her round with eight pars in a row.
“I am very happy for Isabelle,” Dowling said. “She was our second-lowest scorer and she was under par all day. The stretch of holes where she didn't hit it so great (on 16, 17 and 18), she ground out some good pars. I was impressed.”
Senior Jessica Yadloczky (Casselberry, Fla.) made par her first three holes and went bogey-birdie on 13 and 14. After a double bogey on 17, Yadloczky recovered by sinking birdies on the first , third and fourth holes to get to one-under before making her second double bogey of the afternoon on the fifth. She headed to the clubhouse on a positive note however, by burying a birdie putt on her final hole of the round.
“She had a couple of bogeys but she didn't let it bother her,” Dowling noted. “She showed a lot of composure. She putted great today and she hit it pretty well and gave herself some opportunities to make some birdies and she took advantage.”
Sophomore Mia Piccio (Bacolod City, Philippines) was steady early, making five consecutive pars before a bogey on 15. Another bogey on 18 had her at two-over through nine. The Philippines native resumed her consistent play by making eight straight pars before making a bogey on her final hole to finish with a three-over 75, placing her in a tie for 54th.
Junior Andrea Watts (Bradenton, Fla.) finished the afternoon tied for 54th overall after shooting a three-over 75. Watts birdied her first hole but found trouble soon after as she bogeyed 11 and 15 and double bogeyed 14. She birdied the par-5 17th but fell back to four-over after bogeys on Nos. 1 and 5 before finishing the round with three pars and a birdie on the par-3 eighth.
Watts will begin play for Florida in the second round of the Tar Heel Invitational at 9:45 a.m. Saturday. She will be followed by Mia Piccio at 9:54, Jessica Yadloczky at 10:03, Isabelle Lendl at 10:12 and Evan Jensen at 10:21.
Visit www.golfstat.com or www.TarHeelBlue.com for live scoring and www.GatorZone.com for a recap and updated results.
Team Scores After Round 1
| Place | School | Score |
| 1. | Alabama | 277 (-11) |
| 2. | LSU | 285 (-3) |
| T3. | Duke | 288 (E) |
| T3. | Florida | 288 (E) |
| T5. | Tulane | 289 (+1) |
| T5. | Michigan State | 289 (+1) |
| 7. | Virginia | 290 (+2) |
| T8. | South Carolina | 291 (+3) |
| T8. | Wake Forest | 291 (+3) |
| 10. | Texas A&M | 292 (+4) |
| 11. | Auburn | 293 (+5) |
| 12. | North Carolina | 294 (+6) |
| 13. | Georgia | 295 (+7) |
| 14. | Vanderbilt | 298 (+10) |
| T15. | Florida State | 299 (+11) |
| T15. | Denver | 299 (+11) |
| 17. | Louisville | 301 (+13) |
| 18. | North Carolina State | 302 (+14) |
Individual Top 10 Through Round 1
| Place | Player (School) | Score |
| 1. | Brooke Pancake (Alabama) | 65 (-7) |
| T2. | Janine Fellows (Tulane) | 67 (-5) |
| T2. | Megan McChrystal (LSU) | 67 (-5) |
| 4. | Brittany Altomare (Virginia) | 68 (-4) |
| T5. | Camilla Lennarth (Alabama) | 69 (-3) |
| T5. | Julia Thead (Vanderbilt) | 69 (-3) |
| T5. | Sarah Zwartynski (Texas A&M) | 69 (-3) |
| T8. | Courtney Gunter (North Carolina) | 70 (-2) |
| T8. | Evan Jensen (Florida) | 70 (-2) |
| T8. | Sara-Maude Juneau (Louisville) | 70 (-2) |
| T8. | Brittany Marchand (North Carolina State) | 70 (-2) |
| T8. | Aimee Neff (Michigan State) | 70 (-2) |
Florida Results After Round 1
| Place | Player | Score |
| T8. | Evan Jensen | 70 (-2) |
| T13. | Isabelle Lendl | 71 (-1) |
| T24. | Jessica Yadloczky | 72 (E) |
| T54. | Mia Piccio | 75 (+3) |
| T54. | Andrea Watts | 75 (+3) |
-UF-
