Women's Golf Repeats as SunTrust Gator Women's Invitational Champions

Sunday, March 18

Gainesville, FL

12:00 AM

Florida Gators

SunTrust Gator Women's Golf Invitational

Women's Golf Repeats as SunTrust Gator Women's Invitational Champions

Sunday, March 18, 2012 | Women's Golf

For the second straight year and 18th overall, the University of Florida women's golf team was able to capture victory at its home event, the SunTrust Gator Women's Invitational. The Gators, ranked No. 20 by the Golf World/NGCA Coaches' Poll, carded the second-lowest team total in tournament history with a 54-hole total of 864 (294-283-287, +24), beating last year's total by one-stroke.

“I'm so proud of how my team played all three days but in particular the last two. They played their hearts. They faced quite a bit of adversity the second day and just kept grinding today,” said head coach Jan Dowling. “It was a close match between Alabama all day and we just played hard. We went back and forth all day and it was just really great we were able to finish it off at home against such a good field of teams"

UF was able to bounce back to win the tournament despite trailing by 10 strokes after the first round. A late par-save on the final hole of the tournament by freshman Camilla Hedberg (Sitges, Spain) was the difference in the Gators one-stroke triumph over No. 2 Alabama.

“We knew we could come back,” explained Dowling. “This golf course requires a lot of course management and it requires a lot of local knowledge and we knew our local knowledge was something we could take advantage of but we also didn't take it for granted.”

Florida's victory comes against one of the strongest fields they've competed against all season. Six of the 16 Gator opponents were ranked or receiving votes entering the tournament. Alabama (2), Auburn (6), Duke (8), Georgia (12), Baylor (13) and FSU (RV) all competed at Mark Bostick Golf Course this weekend.

Hedberg finished tied for second-place after posting her second under-par tournament score in her collegiate career. The Spaniard handed in a two-under 208 (68-71-69) for the tournament. Hedberg's 54-hole total ties her own mark for the lowest tournament total in school history.

“I played pretty good today. I stayed very calm,” Hedberg stated “I started with 11 pars in a row so it was kind of a boring round but it was safe. I finished with a good par on 18 so it was quite the calm round.”

After posting consecutive one-under 69's, senior Evan Jensen (Belleair, Fla.) found herself in the top-10 despite being tied for 51st after the first 18 holes. Jensen recorded four birdies in a five-hole stretch during a critical time for the Gators during the final round. Jensen finished in seventh-place, marking her first top-10 finish of the season.

“It's one of the best fields we've played against here at our home tournament and to beat Alabama by one down the stretch shows determination. We really prepared well and it paid off,” said Jensen. “It's nice to be home but at the same time there's a little bit of added pressure and to push through that and to persevere, it's really great.”

Mia Piccio (Bacolod City, Fla.) carded her fourth top-25 finish of the season with a nine-over 219 (71-72-76), finishing in a tie for 15th.

Andrea Watts (Bradenton, Fla.) handed in a final round 73 (+3) to give her a tournament total of 222 (+12) and good enough for a tie for 24th. Watts provided steady play throughout rounds two and three, making seven birdies against seven bogeys and two double bogeys in the final two rounds.

Isabelle Lendl (Goshen, Conn.) finished with a total of 239 (81-80-78, +29) and Megan Pak (Bradenton, Fla.), who was competing as an individual, finished with a 223 (73-80-80, +23).

“This is obviously a huge confidence booster going into the Liz Murphey and then heading into SEC's and then into the postseason,” noted Dowling. “Knowing we can compete with the best teams is a great feeling and we're just going to continue believing in our process and get back to work. We're excited for the rest of our season.”

UF will next hit the course in Athens, Ga. at the UGA Golf Club for the Liz Murphey Classic. The Georgia-hosted tournament is March 30-April 1.

Maria Salinas captured first-place among all players, marking the second year in a row a golfer from FSU placed first in the event. Salinas' 206 (68-72-66, -4) is the lowest individual tournament score ever at the Gator Women's Invitational.

For complete coverage of UF's women's golf program visit GatorZone.com, follow @GatorZoneGolf on Twitter and 'like' the University of Florida Women's Golf page on Facebook.

Team Leaderboard
PLACE	SCHOOL	TO PAR	ROUND 1	ROUND 2	ROUND 3	SCORE
1	Florida	+24	294	283	287	864
2	Alabama	+25	284	293	288	865
3	Florida State	+32	290	293	289	872
4	Georgia	+37	286	296	295	877
5	Duke	+42	295	300	287	882
T6	South Florida	+45	294	294	297	885
T6	Auburn	+45	293	300	292	885
T6	Arkansas	+45	297	299	289	885
9	Baylor	+46	302	293	291	886
10	Mississippi	+51	305	293	293	891
11	Kentucky	+56	291	299	306	896
12	UCF	+66	303	298	305	906
13	Wisconsin	+72	303	301	308	912
14	Kent State	+78	309	306	303	918
15	Chattanooga	+83	302	311	310	923
16	Mississippi State	+86	304	315	307	926
17	Georgia State	+89	309	305	315	929

Individual Top-10
PLACE	PLAYER	SCHOOL	TO PAR	ROUND 1	ROUND 2	ROUND 3	SCORE
1	Maria Salinas	Florida State	-4	68	72	66	206
T2	Camilla Hedberg	Florida	-2	68	71	69	208
T2	Christina Miller	South Florida	-2	69	67	72	208
T4	Stephanie Meadow	Alabama	E	71	71	68	210
T4	Emily Tubert	Arkansas	E	72	70	68	210
6	Emilie Burger	Georgia	+1	67	71	73	211
7	Evan Jensen	Florida	+5	77	69	69	215
8	Lindy Duncan	Duke	+6	72	77	67	216
T9	Hayley Davis	Baylor	+7	77	67	73	217
T9	Marta Sanz	Auburn	+7	73	72	72	217

Florida Results
PLACE	PLAYER	TO PAR	ROUND 1	ROUND 2	ROUND 3	SCORE
T2	Camilla Hedberg	-2	68	71	69	208
7	Evan Jensen	+5	77	69	69	215
T15	Mia Piccio	+9	71	72	76	219
T25	Andrea Watts	+12	78	71	73	222
T79	Isabelle Lendl	+29	81	80	78	239
T65	*Megan Pak	+23	73	80	80	233