Seventh Straight Top Ten Finish for Gators at Windy Allstate Sugar Bowl Invite

Tuesday, February 26

New Orleans, La.

12:00 AM

Florida Gators

Allstate Sugar Bowl Round 3

Seventh Straight Top Ten Finish for Gators at Windy Allstate Sugar Bowl Invite

Tuesday, February 26, 2013 | Women's Golf

One day after having their second round of the Allstate Sugar Bowl Invitational cancelled and then learning that the tournament would be shortened to a 36-hole event, the University of Florida women's golf team didn't have much time to make up the four-stroke deficit facing them in today's final round. The third-ranked Gators were still able string enough pars and birdies together to finish tied for 10^th with a score of 20-over (596), even with the windy conditions that were brought in by Monday's storms.

The top-ten finish is Florida's seventh-straight as it has never placed below 10^th in any tournament this year. Individually, senior Isabelle Lendl (Goshen, Conn.) and sophomore Camilla Hedberg (Sitges, Spain) were the top Gator finishers as they both tied for 13^th place with total scores of two-over (146). Both players shot under par in their first rounds, but were hindered by the strong winds in today's rounds as Lendl had the best day with a four-over (76), while Hedberg was one shot higher for Tuesday with a five-over (77).

“It was a tough day for us,” Florida head coach Emily Bastel said. “The conditions were difficult, but we didn't do much to help ourselves either. We haven't played in much bad weather this year and we need to do a better job of staying tough when conditions like this arise. Days like this require a lot of patience. We got off to a slow start against and weren't able to get anything going through the remainder of the round.”

As conditions were tough for all teams, the scores showed it as well as all teams were at least five-over par for the day. Eventual winner, top-ranked Southern California, shot five-over for Tuesday's round and finished four-over for the tournament after winning in a playoff with No. 25 UCLA. Baylor's Hayley Davis claimed the individual medalist honors as she carded a four-under (140) for the two-round tournament.

As for the three remaining Gators in the field, all were not able to tame the wind as they each finished with higher scores than on Sunday. Junior Elcin Ulu (Istanbul, Turkey) had the third-lowest score for the tournament among Gators as she finished tied for 41^st at seven-over (151). For the final round, Ulu shot a six-over (78).

Senior Mia Piccio (Bacolod City, Philippines) and sophomore Anna Young (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada) were the final two UF players on the board this week as both finished tied for 60^th with scores of 10-over (154). Piccio finished Tuesday's round with an 18-hole score of eight-over (80), while Young was nearly the same with a seven-over (79).

The Gators will get another week break before their next competition, the SunTrust Gator Women's Invitational, the team's only home event of the year. Play for the Gator Invite is slated for March 15-17 and all three rounds will be played at the Mark Bostick Golf Course on the UF campus. Admission will be free for fans during all three rounds as well.

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.

Allstate Sugar Bowl Invitational Final Team Scores

Place School Score

T1 Southern Cal* 287-293-580 (+4)

T1 UCLA 283-297-580 (+4)

3 Duke 283-300-583 (+7)

4 Tulane 282-307-589 (+13)

5 Purdue 295-296-591 (+15)

6 LSU 291-301-592 (+16)

T7 Alabama 285-308-593 (+17)

T7 Baylor 290-303-593 (+17)

9 Texas 294-301-595 (+19)

T10 Florida 286-310-596 (+20)