Florida Gators
Northrup Grumman Regional Challenge
Women's Golf Opens Spring at Northrup Grumman Regional Challenge
Tuesday, February 15, 2011 | Women's Golf
PALOS VERDES, Calif. – The University of Florida women's golf team is sitting in sole possession of fifth place at the end of the first round of the 16th-annual Northrup Grumman Regional Challenge after carding a team score of 305 (+21) at the par-71, 5,912-yard Palos Verdes Golf Club in Palos Verdes, Calif. No member of the 13-team field was able to complete the first round in the red and just two individuals—Tiffany Lua of UCLA and Amy Meier of Ohio State were able to play the first 18 holes under par.
“I like the fight of our team,” Florida Head Coach Jan Dowling said. “We fought hard out there and we have two rounds of golf to play. The scores do not reflect ball-striking as well as they could have, but we hit the ball well. If we continue to hit the ball the way the team has, I think we will see some better scores out there.”
Sophomore Mia Piccio (Bacolod City, Philippines) paced the Gators with a 74 (+3). After bogeying her first hole, she rebounded with a birdie on the par-4 11th and played rock-solid, making par the next five holes before sinking another birdie putt on No. 17 to get to one-under through eight. Piccio double-bogeyed No. 18and after a par on No. 1, bogeyed No. 2. However, the Philippines native birdied No. 4 and followed with three straight pars before a double bogey on No. 8 left her with a 74 (+3) for the round that tied her for ninth on the individual leaderboard. Piccio tied for the fourth-highest birdie total today with three.
“Mia hit it really solid today and her round was really better than a 74,” Dowling shared. “She had three birdies and those are not easy to come by on this course. She doubled 18 where she got stuck in a bunker and hit the wrong club on No. 8 but besides that, she played really solid.”
Senior Jessica Yadloczky (Casselberry, Fla.) avoided any major mistakes en route to a 76 (+5), placing her in a tie for 20th. Yadloczky was steady early and was the only Gator to avoid a bogey in the opening three holes. The Gator senior had 13 pars along with five bogeys. She also was among the leaders in par-3 scoring, tied for 14th after shooting a one-over on those four holes, and tied for the third-most pars of any player in the first round.
“Her short game was pretty solid,” Dowling said. “She got on the bogey train midway through her round but got it back. She fought hard and in general, our team fought pretty hard today which is what we are looking for.”
Junior Evan Jensen (Belleair, Fla.) went bogey-birdie on 11 and 12 and after two pars on 13 and 14, encountered difficulty on the par-3 15th. She made triple bogey, putting her at three-over through six. Jensen birdied 17 to enter the turn at two-over. Bogeys at No. 3 and No. 6 put her at +4 before a double bogey on No. 8 landed her in a tie for 29th overall with a 77 (+6). She was tied for sixth overall in par-4 scoring, firing a one-over on the 11 par-4's on the course.
Sophomore Isabelle Lendl (Goshen, Conn.) completed the first round with a 78 (+7). She was solid at the start and was one-over through five before a difficult stretch where she made bogeys on seven of the next eight holes. Lendl recovered with two pars, followed by a birdie on the par-5 7th—the only birdie by a Gator on a par-5 all day—and completed her round with two pars, finishing tied for 31st.
Junior Andrea Watts (Bradenton, Fla.) was five-over through seven holes but turned things around with a birdie on 17. She played the next eight holes at +2 before recording a double bogey on No. 8 as she ended the day with a 79 (+8) that left her in 37th along with 10 other players.
Sophomore Megan Pak (Bradenton, Fla.), competing as an individual, had one birdie, six pars, eight bogeys and three double bogeys to card an 84 (+13) in the first 18 holes of the tournament that has her tied for 66th.
Pak will tee off first for the Gators in the second round of the Northrup Grumman at 11:45 a.m. ET Tuesday. She will be followed by Andrea Watts at 11:55, Lendl at 12:05, Jensen at 12:15, Yadloczky at 12:25 and Piccio at 12:35.
Fans can follow the Gators at www.golfstat.com for live scoring, on Twitter and at www.GatorZone.com for a recap and updated results after the conclusion of each round.
Team Scores After Round 1
| Place | School | Score |
| 1. | Southern California | 290 (+6) |
| 2. | Pepperdine | 295 (+11) |
| 3. | UCLA | 296 (+12) |
| 4. | Arizona State | 298 (+14) |
| 5. | Florida | 305 (+21) |
| T6. | Michigan State | 309 (+25) |
| T6. | Ohio State | 309 (+25) |
| 8. | Furman | 311 (+27) |
| 9 | Wake Forest | 312 (+28) |
| 10. | Denver | 313 (+29) |
| T11. | UC Irvine | 322 (+38) |
| T11. | Louisville | 322 (+38) |
| 13. | East Tennessee State | 327 (+43) |
Individual Top 10 Through Round 1
| Place | Player (School) | Score |
| T1. | Tiffany Lua (UCLA) | 70 (-1) |
| T1. | Amy Meier (Ohio State) | 70 (-1) |
| 3. | Lizette Salas (Southern California) | 71 (E) |
| 4. | Inah Park (Southern California) | 72 (+1) |
| T5. | Carlota Ciganda (Arizona State) | 73(+2) |
| T5. | Taylore Karle (Pepperdine) | 73 (+2) |
| T5. | Lisa McCloskey (Southern California) | 73 (+2) |
| T5. | Giulia Molinaro (Arizona State) | 73 (+2) |
| T9. | Liv Cheng (Pepperdine) | 74 (+2) |
| T9. | Anna Christenson (Denver) | 74 (+2) |
| T9. | Kaitlin Drolson (Pepperdine) | 74 (+2) |
| T9. | Grace Na (Pepperdine) | 74 (+2) |
| T9. | Aimee Neff (Michigan State) | 74 (+2) |
| T9. | Mia Piccio (Florida) | 74 (+2) |
| T9. | Sophia Popov (Southern California) | 74 (+2) |
| T9. | Cyna Rodriguez (Southern California) | 74 (+2) |
Florida Results After Round 1
| Place | Player | Score |
| T9. | Mia Piccio | 74 (+3) |
| T20. | Jessica Yadloczky | 76 (+5) |
| T29. | Evan Jensen | 77 (+6) |
| T31. | Isabelle Lendl | 78 (+7) |
| T37. | Andrea Watts | 79 (+8) |
| T66. | Megan Pak* | 84 (+13) |
*Played as an individual
