Sunday, March 11
Gainesville, FL
ALL DAY
Florida Gators
vs
SunTrust Gator Invitational
The Gators take their run in front of the camera on Sunday afternoon after winning the Gator SunTrust Invitational for the third consecutive year. (Photo: Matt Stamey/UAA Communications)
Florida Captures Third Consecutive Gator Invitational
Sunday, March 11, 2018 | Women's Golf
Gators set new tournament record for lowest score en route to 12 shot victory.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- For the third consecutive season, Florida will keep the SunTrust Gator Invitational at home.
The Gators ran away from the field winning the tournament by 12 strokes while setting a new tournament record of 840 (E). Florida bested the previous record set last season by seven strokes to become the first team to finish even par in the tournament's 46-year history.
This is the second tournament title for the Gators this season, which marks the third consecutive year they have won multiple team titles.
Florida was paced by the top three in the lineup who all finished in the top five on the leaderboard. Sophomore Sierra Brooks was the top finisher on the team for the third time in four starts. She carded three rounds at or below par to place second at 2-under par.
Elin Esborn set another season-best as she was one shot back of Brooks for third in the event. Esborn was played nearly mistake free over the final 36 holes as she carded just four bogeys.
Also in the top five was Marta Perez who finished in a four-way tie for fifth place with a 212 (+2). Perez carded the Gators low score (69) on Sunday as she was just one of four players in the field to go below par in the final round.
Senior Taylor Tomlinson finished her final Gator Invitational tied for 18th at 6-over par as her first and third round scores helped boost the team to the win.
Competing in her first Gator Invite, Addie Baggarly was also in the top 20 on the leaderboard. She finished tied for 13th at 4-over par.
This is now the 21st time that Florida has claimed the title and the third under coach Emily Glaser.
Coach's Take:
"I know that I've said it before. This week is really special and really fun but, from a competitive standpoint it's really fun because there is expectations. They want to play really well because they are at home and they should know how to play this golf course. I think they way that they handled that part of it and just to be able to go out and play pretty free and to put up the numbers they did was nice" -- Coach Emily Glaser
"I think that is what we are really excited about with this group. I've said before that overall we are pretty young but, I always joke that at the end of the day we are at Florida and so they don't give you a couple shots off your score because of that. I was pleased with how they handled that because four of the seven this is their first go around with this. The way that they managed their emotions, stuck to their game plans and played with a lot of maturity which is what we were waiting to see out of this group as we move forward in the season" -- Glaser
"I don't know if she hit the ball as well as she wanted to this week. What was really cool was that she made some adjustments today and she hit it a little bit better today. Her scrambling ability, that happens when you are in your first Gator. You hit some shots where you have never hit them before and it can kind of throw you. She wasn't shaken by that and she had some amazing up and downs this week that I think kept her in the tournament. The resume that she has and the level of golf she has played at. She handles it like a pro." -- Glaser on sophomore Sierra Brooks
"We talking about rolling with the punches, that was the message. We have to be ready to battle. Whether we feel good or it starts out our way, you have to be ready to play hard no matter what. I thought they did a good job of that." -- Glaser
Final Scores:
Team:
Florida Players:
Competing as an individual:
Up Next
The Gators are back on the course next weekend when they travel to Auburn, Ala. for the Evan Derby Invitational. This is the first time the tournament will be held since 2008-09 season and the first time since 2006 Florida will be apart of the field.
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The Gators ran away from the field winning the tournament by 12 strokes while setting a new tournament record of 840 (E). Florida bested the previous record set last season by seven strokes to become the first team to finish even par in the tournament's 46-year history.
This is the second tournament title for the Gators this season, which marks the third consecutive year they have won multiple team titles.
Florida was paced by the top three in the lineup who all finished in the top five on the leaderboard. Sophomore Sierra Brooks was the top finisher on the team for the third time in four starts. She carded three rounds at or below par to place second at 2-under par.
Elin Esborn set another season-best as she was one shot back of Brooks for third in the event. Esborn was played nearly mistake free over the final 36 holes as she carded just four bogeys.
Also in the top five was Marta Perez who finished in a four-way tie for fifth place with a 212 (+2). Perez carded the Gators low score (69) on Sunday as she was just one of four players in the field to go below par in the final round.
Senior Taylor Tomlinson finished her final Gator Invitational tied for 18th at 6-over par as her first and third round scores helped boost the team to the win.
Competing in her first Gator Invite, Addie Baggarly was also in the top 20 on the leaderboard. She finished tied for 13th at 4-over par.
This is now the 21st time that Florida has claimed the title and the third under coach Emily Glaser.
Coach's Take:
"I know that I've said it before. This week is really special and really fun but, from a competitive standpoint it's really fun because there is expectations. They want to play really well because they are at home and they should know how to play this golf course. I think they way that they handled that part of it and just to be able to go out and play pretty free and to put up the numbers they did was nice" -- Coach Emily Glaser
"I think that is what we are really excited about with this group. I've said before that overall we are pretty young but, I always joke that at the end of the day we are at Florida and so they don't give you a couple shots off your score because of that. I was pleased with how they handled that because four of the seven this is their first go around with this. The way that they managed their emotions, stuck to their game plans and played with a lot of maturity which is what we were waiting to see out of this group as we move forward in the season" -- Glaser
"I don't know if she hit the ball as well as she wanted to this week. What was really cool was that she made some adjustments today and she hit it a little bit better today. Her scrambling ability, that happens when you are in your first Gator. You hit some shots where you have never hit them before and it can kind of throw you. She wasn't shaken by that and she had some amazing up and downs this week that I think kept her in the tournament. The resume that she has and the level of golf she has played at. She handles it like a pro." -- Glaser on sophomore Sierra Brooks
"We talking about rolling with the punches, that was the message. We have to be ready to battle. Whether we feel good or it starts out our way, you have to be ready to play hard no matter what. I thought they did a good job of that." -- Glaser
Final Scores:
Team:
| 1 | Florida | 840 (E) |
| T2 | Furman | 852 (+12) |
| T2 | Campbell | 852 (+12) |
| 4 | Tennessee | 857 (+17) |
| 5 | Oregon | 867 (+27) |
| 6 | Clemson | 868 (+28) |
| 7 | Ole Miss | 873 (+33) |
| 8 | Daytona State College | 875 (+35) |
| T9 | UCF | 896 (+56) |
| T9 | FIU | 896 (+56) |
| T11 | Southern Miss | 913 (+73) |
| T11 | South Florida | 913 (+73) |
| 13 | North Texas | 917 (+77) |
Florida Players:
| 2 | 208 (-2) | |
| Elin Esborn | 3 | 209 (-1) |
| Marta Perez | T5 | 212 (+2) |
| Addie Baggarly | T13 | 214 (+4) |
| Taylor Tomlinson | T18 | 216 (+6) |
Competing as an individual:
| Carlotta Ricolfi | T33 | 220 (+10) |
| Lauren Waidner | T43 | 224 (+14) |
Up Next
The Gators are back on the course next weekend when they travel to Auburn, Ala. for the Evan Derby Invitational. This is the first time the tournament will be held since 2008-09 season and the first time since 2006 Florida will be apart of the field.
Follow the Gators
FloridaGators.com
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
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