UF Moves Up to T-7th at NCAA Women's Golf Championships

Thursday, May 25

Columbus, OH

12:00 AM

Florida Gators

NCAA Championships

UF Moves Up to T-7th at NCAA Women's Golf Championships

Friday, May 26, 2006 | Women's Golf

Sophomores Sandra Gal (Leichlingen, Germany) and Tiffany Chudy (Miramar, Fla.) put themselves in a strong position to challenge for individual top honors at the 2006 NCAA Women's Golf Championship with their third-round performances Thursday. The Lady Gator duo finds itself among the top-10 in a field of 126 players heading into Friday's final round at the Ohio State Golf Club. Their performance helped the Lady Gators move up one spot in the team standings to a tie for seventh.

Gal began the day tied for 10th, but quickly moved up the leader board after a pair of birdies during her first six holes. She recovered from a double-bogey before the turn by collecting two more birdies. Gal finished the day with a one-under par round of 71 and will head into the final day tied with three others for second place at 217. Pepperdine's Eileen Vargas continues to lead the individual competition after carding a three-over par round of 75 Thursday to give her a 54-hole total of 214.

“Being one-under today in these conditions is a great round,” Florida Head Coach Jill Briles-Hinton said. “She has a lot of college experience and that was important in helping her do well today. All of the players are fighting and I'm so proud of them.”

Chudy remains in the individual top 10 for the third consecutive day after carding a third-round score of 76 (+4). She owns a three-day total of 220, which places her in a three-way tie for ninth.

Gal and Chudy's performances also helped spark a rally by the Lady Gators in the overall team title chase. Florida carded a third-round of 302 (+14) and moved into a tie for seventh with Washington and Georgia at 902.

“We played much better,” Briles-Hinton said, “but we left a lot of opportunities to improve our score out there. The team is kicking themselves because of it - we all feel like we could be in third. The afternoon tee times definitely were at a disadvantage because the wind was stronger. “

Defending champion Duke posted the low team total of the tournament Thursday (287) as the Blue Devils moved to the top of the team leader board with a three-day total of 876 and owns a 13-stroke lead over second-place Southern California (889).

Sophomore Whitney Myers (East Berlin, Pa.) helped Florida's cause by carding her best round of the tournament on Thursday. Myers turned in a 76 (+4) after posting scores of 82 and 83 earlier in the tournament. Redshirt freshman Ornella Jouven (La Ciotat, France) lowered her second-round score by one stroke for a 79 (+7). Freshman Mallory Blackwelder (Versailles, Ky.) rounded out the Gator lineup with an 80 (+8).

The Lady Gators will tee-off on the back-nine starting at 1:20 p.m. on Friday. Live scoring updates can be found at www.golfstat.com.

NCAA Championships – Team Standings (Three Rounds)
Place	School	1st Round	2nd Round	3rd Round	Total	Par
1	Duke	297	292	287	876	+12
2	Southern California	291	300	298	889	+25
3	Pepperdine	301	295	298	894	+30
T4	Purdue	301	295	300	896	+32
T4	Arizona State	292	294	310	896	+32
6	California	305	301	295	901	+37
T7	Florida	293	307	302	902	+38
T7	Georgia	306	305	291	902	+38
T7	Washington	305	304	293	902	+38
10	Stanford	307	301	295	903	+39
11	Auburn	301	298	305	904	+40
12	Tennessee	303	290	315	908	+44
T13	Wake Forest	297	312	301	910	+46
T13	Arkansas	299	313	298	910	+46
T13	UCLA	301	306	303	910	+46
16	Florida State	305	305	301	911	+47
17	Arizona	296	319	297	912	+48
T18	Oklahoma State	311	299	308	918	+54
T18	UNLV	313	301	304	918	+54
20	Nebraska	311	305	306	922	+58
21	Kent State	312	307	304	923	+59
T22	LSU	298	307	319	924	+60
T22	Texas A&M	302	306	316	924	+60
24	Alabama	307	317	310	934	+70

NCAA Championships – Individual Top 10 (Through Three Rounds)
	Name	School	1	2	3	Total	Par
1	Eileen Vargas	Pepperdine	68	71	75	214	-2
T2	Sandra Gal	Florida	74	72	71	217	+1
T2	Jennie Lee	Duke	73	72	72	217	+1
T2	Dewi Schreefel	Southern California	73	74	70	217	+1
T2	Jennifer Tangtiphaiboontana	Stanford	74	71	72	217	+1
6	Da Sol Chung	UNLV	76	72	70	218	+2
T7	Maria Hernandez	Purdue	76	72	71	219	+3
T7	Elizabeth Janangelo	Duke	77	71	71	219	+3
T9	Tiffany Chudy	Florida	69	75	76	220	+4
T9	Amanda Blumenherst	Duke	76	74	70	220	+4
T9	Amie Cochran⁾	UCLA	78	71	71	220	+4

Florida Results

Place	Name	Scores	Par
T2	Sandra Gal	74-72-71 = 217	+1
T9	Tiffany Chudy	69-75-76 = 220	+4
T77	Ornella Jouven	74-80-79 = 233	+17
T99	Mallory Blackwelder	76-80-80 = 236	+20
T114	Whitney Myers	82-83-76 = 241	+25