UF Women's Golf Set to Host SunTrust Gator Women's Golf Invitational
Thursday, April 8, 2010 | Women's Golf
The No. 10 University of Florida women's golf team is set to host the 38th Annual Gator Women's Golf Invitational. The two-day event will be held on April 10-11 at the Mark Bostick Golf Course at the University of Florida.
The Gators, having already earned four top-five finishes, including a first-place victory at the Central District Invitational, look to use their home tournament to gain momentum heading into the post-season. The tournament will serve as UF's final event before traveling to Tuscaloosa, Ala. for the 2010 SEC Championship.
The 2010 edition of the Gator Women's Golf Invitational will serve as the first for many of the current Gators, including head coach Jan Dowling. UF is coming off a disappointing fifth place finish at the 2009 event and look to add to the 16 Gator Women's Golf Invitational tournament titles the program already possesses.
As has been the case all season, Florida will boast a youthful lineup, consisting of one junior, two sophomores and two freshmen. Newcomer Mia Piccio (Bacolod City, Philippines) will lead the lineup of Gators. She finished first among teammates at their most recent tournament, the Liz Murphey Collegiate Championships. Junior and team veteran Jessica Yadloczky (Casselberry, Fla.) will return to the UF lineup after missing the last event. Yadloczky had the best finish among Gators at last year's Gator Women's Golf Invitational. Freshman Isabelle Lendl (Bradenton, Fla.) and sophomores Evan Jensen (Belleair, Fla.) and Marika Lendl (Bradenton, Fla.) will round out Florida's lineup.
Seniors Lauren Uzelatz (Lakeland, Fla.) and Nicole Schachner (Libertyville, Ill.) will participate in their final home tournament of their careers, competing as individuals. Sophomore Andrea Watts (Bradenton, Fla.) and freshman Megan Pak (Bradenton, Fla.) will also compete this weekend individually.
Florida will enter their home tournament as the highest-ranked team, according to the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings. The No. 10 Gators are one of two teams featured in the top-25, joining No. 14 Michigan State and No. 18 Texas A&M.
Six of the 15 teams participating will not have to travel far for the event as they are from the Sunshine State (Florida, FAU, FIU, FSU, UCF and USF). The Gators are the only Southeastern Conference team teeing off for the SunTrust Gator Women's Golf Invitational.
The Gators have experienced much success in their home tournament, winning the title 16 times in the 38-year history of the event. The next closest team is Tulsa, with three victories. They have won six times in the last 10 years, including victories in 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2008. Florida has had eight individuals win the event. Florida set the team tournament record in 2008, which was their most recent team victory, finishing at nine-over par 849.
The SunTrust Gator Women's Golf Invitational tees off on Saturday at 8 a.m., when they will play the two of the three rounds. Sunday's final round also tees off with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. The event is open to the public and admission is free. Live scoring will also be available at www.GatorZone.com or www.golfstat.com.
Tournament Information
Dates April 10-11
Format Saturday (36 holes/shotgun)
Sunday (18 holes/shotgun)
Course Mark Bostick Golf Course
Course Par (Yards) 70 (6,002)
Tournament Field Chattanooga, Florida, FAU, FIU, FSU, Georgetown, Georgia State, Michigan State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, UCF, USF, UNC-Greensboro
Florida Lineup 1) Mia Piccio 2) Jessica Yadloczky 3) Isabelle Lendl 4) Evan Jensen 5) Marika Lendl
I) Megan Pak I) Nicole Schachner I) Lauren Uzelatz
I) Andrea Watts
-UF-
