Lady Gators in Sixth Place After First Two Rounds of UCF Challenge

Monday, March 5

Orlando, FL

12:00 AM

Florida Gators

UCF Challenge

Lady Gators in Sixth Place After First Two Rounds of UCF Challenge

Tuesday, March 6, 2007 | Women's Golf

The University of Florida women's golf team shot a two-round 614 (313-301, +38) on the opening day of the inaugural UCF Challenge in Orlando to finish the day in sixth place. Sophomore Mallory Blackwelder (Versailles, Ky.) led the Lady Gators with a nine-over 153, and will enter Tuesday's final round at the Villas of Grand Cypress tied for 24^th.

“No one played well in the first round, but we came back and countered with a 301 this afternoon,” Florida head coach Jill Briles-Hinton said. “They knew they had to come back and play better, and we're going to take that positive momentum and carry it over into tomorrow's final round.”

Junior Whitney Myers (East Berlin, Pa.) shaved eight strokes off of her first-round score of 81 in Monday's second round to finish the day at 154 (81-73, +10) and tied for 30^th. Juniors Tiffany Chudy (Miramar, Fla.) and Sandra Gal (Leichlingen, Germany), as well as redshirt sophomore Ornella Jouven (La Ciotat, France) each carded two-round scores of 155 (+11) to stand in a five-way tie for 32^nd. Junior Eleanor Tucker (Wilson, N.C.) finished tied for 55^th after posting a score of 160 (83-77) while competing as an individual.

According to Briles-Hinton, windy conditions and unseasonably cool weather had an impact on the team's morning performance on the difficult par-72, 6,214-yard North/South Courses.

“There was quite a bit of wind early in the morning, and it was much colder than anyone would expect for Orlando in March,” Briles-Hinton said. “The weather certainly didn't make a very challenging course any easier. This course seems to have many optical illusions, where it looks like you have just a sliver of green, but in reality, there's quite a bit.”

The Lady Gators came back strong in round two, where Myers carded the lowest individual round (73). Jouven shot a 75 during her afternoon play, and Gal was four-over (76). Blackwelder, Chudy and Tucker each recorded second-round scores of 77.

“Mallory certainly got off to a better start than her teammates, but it seems like she got tired during the second round. She's been working really hard to get healthy and strong, but it takes times to fully recover from an injury, and she's learning that the process can be a bit slower than one might want,” Briles-Hinton said.

Duke sophomore Amanda Blumenherst fired a seven-under 65 in her second round to help No. 3 Duke build a commanding 21-shot advantage on the 13-team field at the UCF Challenge. Blumenherst's 65 followed up her first-round 70 (-2) to give her a nine-under total of 135.

Blumenherst, the No. 1 ranked player in women's golf according to Golfweek.com, holds a 10-stroke lead on five fellow competitors, including teammates Jennie Lee and Alison Whitaker. Those two along with Georgia's Alina Lee and the Pepperdine duo of Misun Cho and Nicole Montgomery are all tied at 145 (+1).

The individual medalist from the inaugural UCF Challenge will be offered a sponsor's exemption to the LPGA's Sybase Classic to be played in Clifton, N.J., May 17-20 of this year.

No. 4 Pepperdine and No. 2 Georgia are in a tight battle for second place as the Waves (594, +18) hold a one-shot lead on the Bulldogs (595, +19). Southeastern Conference foes Vanderbilt (600, +24) and LSU (612, +36), respectively, round out the top five.

Competition will conclude Tuesday morning with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start. Live results will be available at www.golfstat.com and www.gatorzone.com.

Team Leaderboardres

1	Duke	289	284	573	-3
2	Pepperdine	296	298	594	+18
3	Georgia	305	290	595	+19
4	Vanderbilt	302	298	600	+24
5	LSU	312	300	612	+36
6	Florida	313	301	614	+38
T7	New Mexico	307	310	617	+41
T7	Purdue	313	304	617	+41
9	Alabama	321	301	622	+46
10	Arkansas	312	312	624	+48
11	Ohio State	322	304	626	+50
12	UCF	324	308	632	+56
13	SMU	323	322	645	+69

Top-10 Individuals

1	Amanda Blumenherst	Duke	70	65	135 (-9)
T2	Misun Cho	Pepperdine	72	73	145 (+1)
T2	Alina Lee	Georgia	73	72	145 (+1)
T2	Jennie Lee	Duke	73	72	145 (+1)
T2	Nicole Montgomery	Pepperdine	74	71	145 (+1)
T2	Alison Whitaker	Duke	71	74	145 (+1)
T7	Jacqui Concolino	Vanderbilt	72	75	147 (+3)
T7	Melissa Eaton	LSU	78	69	147 (+3)
T7	Kristen Svicarovich	Vanderbilt	75	72	147 (+3)
T7	Eileen Vargas	Pepperdine	75	72	147 (+3)

Florida Individuals

T24	Mallory Blackwelder	76	77	153 (+9)
T30	Whitney Myers	81	73	154 (+10)
T32	Tiffany Chudy	78	77	155 (+11)
T32	Sandra Gal	79	76	155 (+11)
T32	Ornella Jouven	80	75	155 (+11)
T55	Eleanor Tucker	83	77	160 (+16)