Florida Gators
Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate Championship
Piccio Finishes 11th as Women's Golf Completes Play at Allstate Sugar Bowl
Tuesday, March 1, 2011 | Women's Golf
NEW ORLEANS, La. – Sophomore Mia Piccio (Bacolod City, Philippines) narrowly missed her second top-10 finish of the campaign as the University of Florida women's golf team concluded the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate Golf Championship Tuesday with a final round score of 294 (+6) and will now return home to prepare for the 39th-annual SunTrust Gator Women's Invitational, held from March 6-7 at the Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville.
The Gators finished 12th with a cumulative total of 893 (+29) in a loaded field that featured seven top-10 teams according to the Golf World/NGCA coaches' poll, at English Turn Golf and Country Club.
“We are definitely not satisfied but I am pleased with some progress that was made,” head coach Jan Dowling said. “I am never going to pass up an opportunity for our team to be playing against the best teams in the country. One of the reasons is because I think this team has a lot of potential. When we do come together as a team and everybody is firing on all cylinders, I think we are going to find out that we can compete with the best teams in the country. That is what we are trying to accomplish.”
Piccio concluded the tournament with a 70 (-2) that left her in a tie for 11th. Starting on hole 10, Piccio recorded eight consecutive pars before holing out for Florida's fourth eagle of the season—and second of the tournament—on the par-4 18th.
“I was 128 yards out and it was a little downwind,” Piccio explained. “I hit a 9-iron and I thought it was going to come up short. The bunker cuts through the green and I was trying to get the ball over the bunker. It landed about five feet away and went in the hole.”
“To hole out for a 2 on a par-4, it is rare,” Dowling added. “She has never had a hole-in-one but this is the next best thing.”
Piccio's only bogey of the afternoon came on No. 1 but she remained steady, following with six consecutive pars until she birdied No. 8. Piccio played nearly mistake-free golf for the duration of the event, carding only six bogeys total in 54 holes.
“Every time I was in trouble, I had the mindset to make the best score possible,” Piccio said. “I would not go for par if I could not make a par.”
“Her play can be attributed to some solid ball-striking on a difficult golf course,” Dowling continued. “She hit some great iron shots today. She hit the pin twice today. One time it went in for eagle (on 18) and the other time, the ball ricocheted off the pin and she had about 12 feet for birdie and made it. That tells you how well she was striking the ball. Finishing 11th in the second-best field in the country, she has to feel very happy about that and I am proud of her.”
Senior Jessica Yadloczky (Casselberry, Fla.) spearheaded the Gators' third round efforts with a 70 (-2) on Tuesday. She began with back-to-back birdies on 12 and 13—her second and third holes of the round—to quickly move to two-under. From there, Yadloczky played consistent golf, making par for 12 straight holes until her third birdie on the par-3 eighth. Her scorecard was unblemished until a bogey on her second-to-last hole. As a result of her performance, she vaulted 28 places in the standings.
“I am really happy for Jessica,” Dowling said. “She has been working really hard the last year and a half that I have been with her. Today, it started to come together for her. Her ball-striking had been solid all week. It was not anything special from Jessica. She is a great player and I think she is going to build a lot of confidence off of that round just because it is what she is used to doing.”
Sophomore Isabelle Lendl (Goshen, Conn.) completed the tournament with a 54-hole score of 222 after posting a 77 (+5) on the day, putting her in a tie for 31st on the individual leaderboard. Lendl registered two more birdies on par-5's and was a combined seven-under on the four par-5's during the three-day competition.
“I saw some really good progress as far as her ball-striking goes,” Dowling revealed. “Putting kind of got the best of her today but as far as the big picture, she should leave here feeling like she made some progress and that is huge.”
Junior Evan Jensen (Belleair, Fla.) got off to a shaky start with bogeys on 11 and 13 and a double bogey on 15. Jensen, Golfstat's 77th-ranked player nationally, rebounded to complete her remaining 12 holes at one-over, highlighted by a birdie on the par-5 sixth.
Sophomore Megan Pak (Bradenton, Fla.) lowered her tally each day, culminating with an 81 (+9) on day three. She carded one birdie, nine pars, six bogeys and a double bogey.
“We had four rounds under par and today was our best round of the tournament,” Dowling said. “We can definitely build some momentum going into the SunTrust Gator Women's Invitational. We learned some things and made some progress and all of our goals are intact.”
Team Scores After Round 3
| Place | School | 1 | 2 | 3 | Score |
| 1. | Southern California | 297 | 289 | 282 | 868 (+4) |
| 2. | Alabama | 295 | 287 | 290 | 872 (+8) |
| T3. | Tulane | 288 | 298 | 293 | 879 (+15) |
| T3. | Duke | 290 | 299 | 290 | 879 (+15) |
| T5. | Purdue | 302 | 291 | 287 | 880 (+16) |
| T5. | Virginia | 298 | 292 | 290 | 880 (+16) |
| 7. | Arizona State | 293 | 299 | 290 | 882 (+18) |
| 8. | Texas A&M | 302 | 286 | 297 | 885 (+21) |
| 9. | LSU | 291 | 302 | 294 | 887 (+23) |
| 10. | Auburn | 302 | 298 | 288 | 888 (+24) |
| 11. | Vanderbilt | 294 | 297 | 300 | 891 (+27) |
| 12. | Florida | 298 | 301 | 294 | 893 (+29) |
| 13. | Tennessee | 300 | 295 | 301 | 896 (+32) |
| 14. | North Carolina | 307 | 294 | 302 | 903 (+39) |
| 15. | Mississippi | 303 | 305 | 300 | 908 (+44) |
| 16. | Kentucky | 305 | 301 | 307 | 913 (+49) |
| 17. | Denver | 306 | 313 | 308 | 927 (+63) |
Individual Top 10 Through Round 3
| Place | Player (School) | 1 | 2 | 3 | Score |
| 1. | Stephanie Meadow (Alabama) | 72 | 66 | 73 | 211 (-5) |
| 2. | Megan McChrystal (LSU) | 69 | 70 | 73 | 212 (-4) |
| T3. | Laetitia Beck (Duke) | 66 | 76 | 71 | 213 (-3) |
| T3. | Lindy Duncan (Duke) | 73 | 72 | 68 | 213 (-3) |
| T5. | Giulia Molinaro (Arizona State) | 71 | 73 | 70 | 214 (-2) |
| T5. | Maribel Lopez Porras (Tulane) | 71 | 71 | 72 | 214 (-2) |
| T7. | Laura Gonzalez (Purdue) | 75 | 68 | 72 | 215 (-1) |
| T7. | Lisa McCloskey (Southern California) | 73 | 70 | 72 | 215 (-1) |
| T7. | Sophia Popov (Southern California) | 74 | 72 | 69 | 215 (-1) |
| T7. | Katerina Ruzickova (Texas A&M) | 73 | 71 | 71 | 215 (-1) |
Florida Results After Round 3
| Place | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | Score |
| T11. | Mia Piccio | 71 | 75 | 70 | 216 (E) |
| T31. | Isabelle Lendl | 70 | 75 | 77 | 222 (+6) |
| T49. | Evan Jensen | 76 | 74 | 77 | 227 (+11) |
| T52. | Jessica Yadloczky | 81 | 77 | 70 | 228 (+12) |
| 93. | Megan Pak | 84 | 83 | 81 | 248 (+32) |
