Florida Gators
Northrup Grumman Regional Challenge
Women's Golf Concludes Play at Northrup Grumman
Thursday, February 17, 2011 | Women's Golf
PALOS VERDES, Calif. – The University of Florida women's golf team finished in eighth place at the conclusion of the Northrup Grumman Regional Challenge. The Gators recorded a team score of 317 (+33) Wednesday which left them with an overall team score of 926 (305-304-317, +74). Southern California was crowned tournament champions for the second straight year with a score of 884 (290-295-299, +32).
“The team is disappointed in the way we played today but golf sometimes is about building blocks and we can take some positives away from the three days of competition,” Florida Head Coach Jan Dowling said.
The Gators' best round of the day came courtesy of sophomore Megan Pak (Bradenton, Fla.). After opening the tournament with an 84, Pak was markedly better in her second round and culminated her tournament with a 74 (+3) that catapulted her from 57th at the start of the day to a tie for 46th. She made par her first three holes before a rough patch of three bogeys in the next four holes. She settled down, making four consecutive pars before bogeys on 10 and 12 had her at five-over. Pak recovered with two pars and then went birdie-birdie on the final two holes.
“I am so happy for Megan,” Dowling declared. “I am so proud of her too. She stayed patient the whole week. She was disappointed with her first round and just kept getting better and that is what we are looking for—improvement day after day.
“She did that and this is a tough golf course. If you can shoot around par on this golf course, especially on a day like today where the day started with a misty rain that was annoying, that is impressive. She birdied her last two holes and hung in there and obviously did some really good things out there.”
Junior Evan Jensen (Belleair, Fla.) shot a 77 for the second time in three rounds and completed her 54 holes with a score of 232 (+19) that moved her from 41st to a tie for 36th. She was four-over through her first nine holes and two-over on her final nine. Jensen was one-under on the three par-5's and even on the four par-3's Wednesday.
Mia Piccio (Bacolod City, Philippines) topped Florida on the individual leaderboard at tournament's end, carding a 54-hole score of 224 (+11), putting her in a tie for 16th. It marked her third top-20 finish of the 2010-11 season after placing in a tie for12th in the Labor Day Shootout and tying for sixth in the Cougar Classic. The Gator sophomore birdied her second hole—the par-4 9th—and then registered nine pars, six bogeys and a double bogey the rest of the way.
“She can take two really good rounds away from here as a great experience,” Dowling noted. “She got herself into contention on a tough golf course in a pretty respectable field. I know she is disappointed in her round today but she is going to be able to take this experience and build off of it.”
Sophomore Isabelle Lendl (Goshen, Conn.) matched her second round score with a 79 (+8) and her cumulative score of 236 (+23) put her in a tie for 46th. Lendl began well with a birdie on her second hole—the par-4 12th—and was one-under through three before going double bogey-bogey-bogey the following three holes. Three more bogeys and a double bogey dropped her to eight-over through 13 before she concluded the round with a birdie, three pars and a bogey.
Senior Jessica Yadloczky (Casselberry, Fla.) tallied an 83 (+12) which placed her in a tie for 52nd overall. She recorded one birdie, seven pars, eight bogeys, one double bogey and one triple bogey in the third round.
Andrea Watts (Bradenton, Fla.) posted an 86 (+15) Wednesday, giving her a total score of 240 (+27) that left her in a tie for 55th. The junior had one birdie, five pars, nine bogeys, two double bogeys and a triple bogey on the day.
Florida's next tournament will be the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate at English Turn Golf and Country Club in New Orleans, La. from Feb. 27-March 1.
Team Scores After Round 3
| Place | School | 1 | 2 | 3 | Score |
| 1. | Southern California | 290 | 295 | 299 | 884 (+32) |
| 2. | Arizona State | 298 | 294 | 294 | 886 (+34) |
| 3. | UCLA | 296 | 287 | 304 | 887 (+35) |
| T4. | Pepperdine | 295 | 291 | 309 | 895 (+43) |
| T4. | Wake Forest | 312 | 287 | 296 | 895 (+43) |
| 6. | Michigan State | 309 | 299 | 298 | 906 (+54) |
| 7. | Furman | 311 | 302 | 308 | 921 (+69) |
| 8. | Florida | 305 | 304 | 317 | 926 (+74) |
| 9. | Ohio State | 309 | 305 | 315 | 929 (+77) |
| 10. | Denver | 313 | 321 | 304 | 938 (+86) |
| 11. | East Tennessee State | 327 | 307 | 308 | 942 (+90) |
| 12. | Louisville | 322 | 309 | 313 | 944 (+92) |
| 13. | UC Irvine | 322 | 314 | 326 | 962 (+110) |
Individual Top 10 Through Round 3
| Place | Player (School) | 1 | 2 | 3 | Score |
| 1. | Carlota Ciganda (Arizona State) | 73 | 70 | 72 | 215 (+2) |
| 2. | Natalie Sheary (Wake Forest) | 76 | 67 | 74 | 217 (+4) |
| T3. | Ani Gulugian (UCLA) | 76 | 68 | 76 | 220 (+7) |
| T3. | Danielle Kang (Pepperdine) | 77 | 70 | 73 | 220 (+7) |
| T3. | Tiffany Lua (UCLA) | 70 | 74 | 76 | 220 (+7) |
| T3. | Cheyenne Woods (Wake Forest) | 76 | 71 | 73 | 220 (+7) |
| T7. | Lee Lopez (UCLA) | 75 | 70 | 76 | 221 (+8) |
| T7. | Giulia Molinaro (Arizona State) | 73 | 75 | 73 | 221 (+8) |
| T7. | Sophia Popov (Southern California) | 74 | 74 | 73 | 221 (+8) |
| T7. | Lizette Salas (Southern California) | 71 | 77 | 73 | 221 (+8) |
Florida Results After Round 3
| Place | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | Score |
| T16. | Mia Piccio | 74 | 72 | 78 | 224 (+11) |
| T36. | Evan Jensen | 77 | 78 | 77 | 232 (+19) |
| T46. | Isabelle Lendl | 78 | 79 | 79 | 236 (+23) |
| T46. | Megan Pak* | 84 | 78 | 74 | 236 (+23) |
| T52. | Jessica Yadloczky | 76 | 80 | 83 | 239 (+26) |
| T55. | Andrea Watts | 79 | 75 | 86 | 240 (+27) |
*Competed as an individual
