Florida Drops Heartbreaker on Playoff Hole in Quarterfinals

Wednesday, April 17

Birmingham, AL

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Florida Gators

SEC Championships

Florida Drops Heartbreaker on Playoff Hole in Quarterfinals

Saturday, April 20, 2019 | Women's Golf

By: Lucy Berres

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Florida women's golf team dropped a heartbreaking match to Ole Miss on a playoff hole in the Quarterfinals of the SEC Championships Saturday.

After earning the top seed Friday at the conclusion of three rounds of stroke play, the Gators faced Ole Miss in the first round of match play Saturday morning. A rocky first nine holes for all five pairs had the Gators and Rebels all square heading into the second nine.

Freshman Clara Manzalini led the way after sophomore Elin Esborn dropped the first pair on the 16th hole 3&2. Manzalini took three of her last six holes to take the win 4&3. Junior Sierra Brooks was next up on the tee and next to put one in the win column, taking her pair 4&3 by winning three of her final six holes as well. Both Manzalini and Brookes wrapped play on the 15th green.

A surge from sophomore Addie Baggarly kept the spirit alive for the Gators as she entered the second nine down by two holes. She parred five of her final nine and won 15 and 16 to take the match to the final hole. As both players parred 17, Baggarly went into the 18th down one and dropped the match 2UP.

The Gators were 2-2 with Ole Miss as the final pair approached the 18th hole with junior Marta Perez all square with her opponent after dropping the 17th hole. After both players parred 18 to remain all square, they went on to a playoff on the first hole.

Both Perez and her Ole Miss opponent, Macy Somoskey, hit the fairway off the drive and landed in the bunker off their second shot. Somoskey landed 2 feet from the hole coming out of the bunker. Perez's first try to get out of the sand was a doozey. The ball only went further into the sand and had to be dug out with the assistance of the rules official. On her second attempt, Perez popped the ball about 20 feet from the hole and drained her only putt. Unfortunately, Somoskey also made her putt and took the hole by two strokes.

Coach's Take
"This one stings for sure. In my opinion, based on stroke play and even how we played today, it's hard to argue we aren't one of the best teams here. But everyone who knows golf knows match play is a different animal and we weren't able to get it done today. Credit to Ole Miss, they were extremely motivated and not at all scared. They played their best golf of the week today when it mattered most." – Head Coach Emily Bastel Glaser

"I feel bad for the team; Sierra and Clara played great matches. And Addie and Marta, even in their losses, played really good golf. As hard as it is to see the good in today's outcome, we have to thin big picture and allow this to motivate us for the rest of the season." – Coach Glaser

Match Play Scores
Ole Miss defeated Florida 3-2
Kennedy Swann (Ole Miss) def. Elin Esborn (Florida), 3-and-2
Clara Manzalini (Florida) def. Conner Beth Ball (Ole Miss), 4-and-3
Sierra Brooks (Florida) def. Ellen Hutchinson-Kay (Ole Miss), 4-and-3
Julia Johnson (Ole Miss) def. Addie Baggarly (Florida), 2UP
Macy Somoskey (Ole Miss) def. Marta Perez (Florida), 1UP on a playoff

Next Up
The Gators will now wait for their NCAA Regional future. The NCAA women's golf Selection Show will be Wednesday, April 24, at 5:30 p.m. on the Golf Channel.