No. 4 UF Women's Golf Seeks Third National Title, First Since 1986
Monday, May 19, 2008 | Women's Golf
The fourth-ranked University of Florida women's golf team will seek to accomplish something no Lady Gator squad has done in 22 years. Florida aims for its third national title and first since 1986 at the 2008 NCAA Championships, May 20-23, at the University of New Mexico Championship Golf Course.
“Our mindset is very healthy going into this event,” UF head coach Jill Briles-Hinton said. “They are going to be nervous, but they have the confidence to get it done. They have been working hard and doing everything that has been asked of them. I am really proud of them and what they have accomplished this season. Hopefully, we can continue that success this week.”
The four-day tournament gets underway at 10 a.m. ET Tuesday with Texas A&M, Virginia and Oklahoma State on the first tee. Florida is paired with UCLA and Southern Cal on the first tee at 2:30 p.m. ET. The Lady Gators will be in the morning slate of tee times at 10 a.m. ET in Wednesday's second round. Live scoring is available at www.Golfstat.com and www.Gatorzone.com.
The par-72, 6,424-yard New Mexico Championship Golf Course is playing host to the event for the second time. The 1987 finals were held here with San Jose State taking a one-stroke victory over Furman with a score of 1,187. The track has also been the site of four NCAA Men's Championships with the last one coming in 1998.
Since it was officially opened in 1967, The Championship Golf Course has been one of the finest facilities of its kind nationwide. It has been nationally recognized by Golf Digest Magazine as one of the top-25 public courses in the country.
“We did not get into the Preview (Invitational), but fortunately we played there two falls ago,” Briles-Hinton said. “A couple of our players have also played this golf course before. I think it fits our game well.”
The nation's top 24 teams will be in attendance after qualifying in the top eight of each respective regional. The rest of the field and their Golfweek ranking includes: 1. Southern Cal, 2. UCLA, 3. Duke, 5. Arizona State, 6. Purdue, 7. Oklahoma State, 8. Georgia, 9. Denver, 10. Arkansas, 11. Auburn, 12. Alabama, 13. Arizona, 14. Wake Forest, 16. Texas A&M, 17. Virginia, 21. Texas, 24. LSU, 29. TCU, 31. South Carolina, 33. Furman, 34. Tulsa and 43. UNLV.
The Lady Gators are seeking a trifecta in postseason tournament wins that already includes the program's first NCAA regional title and their eighth Southeastern Conference Championship. Florida captured the NCAA East Regional by one stroke over Duke, the tournament's No. 1 national seed, on May 10 in Athens, Ga. Four players finished in the top 20 as the Lady Gators shot a three-day tally of 19-over 883.
Florida took a three-stroke lead into the final day and used key birdie putts on the 18th hole by freshman Hannah Yun (Bradenton, Fla.) and redshirt junior Ornella Jouven (La Ciotat, France) to secure the win. Senior Tiffany Chudy (Miramar, Fla.) placed in a tie for seventh at 2-over 218.
Two weeks earlier, the Lady Gators ran away with the SEC Championship in Loudon, Tenn. Florida won the tournament at 10-over 874, 17 shots better than that of second-place Arkansas. The margin of victory was the largest since Georgia won the title by 18 strokes in 1999.
The Lady Gators have won three tournaments in a row, a streak that began on March 30 at the Bryan National Collegiate. For the season, Florida has won five events, which represents the most in a single season since the 1994-95 squad claimed five.
Briles-Hinton has guided the Lady Gators to its third NCAA Championships appearance in the past four seasons. Florida just missed qualifying for last year's national tournament after taking 10th place at the 2007 NCAA East Regional. UF's only two national titles came in consecutive seasons of 1985 and 1986.
Briles-Hinton will go with the same lineup that resulted in an NCAA East Regional title nearly a week ago. Three of those players will be making their first national tournament appearance, including Yun, freshman Jessica Yadloczky (Casselberry, Fla.) and redshirt freshman Nicole Schachner (Libertyville, Ill.).
Chudy and Jouven bring a combined three NCAA Championships appearances and 12 rounds into the week. Chudy owns two top-20 finishes in her two previous national tournament starts. She tied for 12th as a sophomore in Columbus, Ohio, and she placed in a tie for 16th as a freshman in Sunriver, Ore.
Yadloczky and Yun are no strangers to the national stage as both played in junior national golf tournaments prior to arriving at Florida. The two have since become arguably the top freshman tandem in the nation.
Yadloczky and Yun enter the week ranked 15th and 22nd, respectively, in the Golfweek Individual Ratings Index. Yadloczky has finished in the top 12 in each of her three previous events, while Yun was the runner-up at the SEC Championship by one stroke to the defending NCAA champion.
