Florida Women's Golf Preparing for NCAA Championships
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 | Women's Golf
BRYAN, Texas – The No. 24 University of Florida women's golf team will partake in the 2011 NCAA Championships at the par-72, 6,260-yard Traditions Golf Club in Bryan, Texas from May 18-21. The Gators enter nationals, having earned a place for the 21st time in school history and the 11th time in the 19 years since the regional format was introduced in 1993. Florida's last trip to the NCAA Championships was in 2008 and senior Jessica Yadloczky (Casselberry, Fla.) is the only current Gator to have competed on this stage.
“We're excited to be going to the National Championship, we're happy to be going to the National Championship, but we have a job to do there,” head coach Jan Dowling declared. “We're going to take advantage of the opportunity as much as we possibly can.
“We know it's Texas so it's going to be hot and it's going to be windy. One thing we've talked about is working on knockdown shots and also, there are a lot of tight lies out there. There is a lot of Bermuda grass which we're used to. Around the greens, there's not necessarily going to be high rough. It's going to be shorter rough where you can putt it a lot. We're going to do what we've been doing all year, it's working.”
The Orange and Blue have claimed two national championships – back-to-back triumphs in 1985 and 1986 – and was the first school to win a national championship in consecutive years since the beginning of NCAA Championships competition in 1982 and have placed in the top 10 on 17 occasions. University of Florida Hall of Fame member Page Dunlap is the school's lone individual medalist, finishing first in 1986. Gator standout Andrea Vander Lende was tied atop the leaderboard at the end of four rounds in the 2003 tournament, but was defeated in the first hole of a playoff. A Gator golfer has finished in the top 20 in 18 of Florida's 21 appearances.
Dowling, in her second season as Florida's head coach, guided the team to its first NCAA Championships appearance in her tenure and will roll out the same five players for the fifth consecutive tournament In a lineup that is identical to where each player finished in the NCAA East Regional. Sophomore Mia Piccio (Bacolod City, Philippines) is in the Gators' No. 1 position for the sixth time this season. She has placed 16th or higher in all six spring tournaments, including the NCAA East Regional where she tied for 11th two weeks ago. The Second Team All-Southeastern Conference honoree has moved into the top 50 of the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings for the first time in her career, currently sitting 48th. Sophomore Isabelle Lendl (Goshen, Conn.) is placed second and has steadily progressed throughout the spring, recording two top 10's in her last four events and barely missing a third at the NCAA East Regional where she also tied for 11th. Her third round 68 (-4) set a UF record for a single round during NCAA Regional play. Junior Andrea Watts (Bradenton, Fla.) is in the third spot for the third time this season after delivering her two best rounds of the spring away from Mark Bostick Golf Course at the NCAA East Regional, carding 72's in the second and third rounds. Her 72 in the second round was Florida's low round of the day and was critical in keeping the team in contention before qualification was assured. Yadloczky, a two-time First Team All-SEC selection, is making her second journey to nationals after first competing as a freshman and will compete from the fourth spot in the rotation. Junior Evan Jensen (Belleair, Fla.) rounds out Florida's lineup. She is ranked 90th in the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings. 94.2 percent of her rounds have counted toward the team score and she leads the squad in birdies with 77.
The 2011 NCAA Championships include fi ve teams that won their conference championships (Southern California-Pac-10, Notre Dame - Big East, Coastal Carolina – Big South, North Carolina – Atlantic Coast Conference, UC Davis – Big West) and 17 teams ranked in the Top 25 of the Golf World/NGCA Coaches' Poll as of May 4. No. 3 Alabama, No. 8 LSU, No. 10 Arkansas, No. 12 Tennessee, No. 22 Vanderbilt, No. 24 Florida and South Carolina will represent the SEC.
Tee times for all four rounds begin at 9:00 a.m. ET. Florida is scheduled to start Wednesday's opening round from the 10th tee at 9:00 a.m. Jensen tees off first for Florida at 9, followed by Yadloczky at 9:11, Watts at 9:22, Lendl at 9:33 and Piccio at 9:44. The Gators are paired with Stanford and Washington for the first two days of the tournament. Florida will reunite with former Gator and 2003 NCAA runner-up Vander Lende, who is now the assistant women's golf coach at Washington.
Follow the Gators on Twitter for team updates and happenings and at www.GatorZone.com for a recap and updated results after each round of the NCAA Championships. Live scoring WILL NOT be available on Golfstat for the duration of the four-day tournament. Live scoring updates during each round and live streaming of the final two rounds of the golf championships will be available online at www.ncaa.com. Holes 16, 17 and 18 will be streamed on Friday and Saturday, May 20 and 21.
NCAA Championships Field: Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, California, Coastal Carolina, Florida, LSU, Minnesota, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Purdue, South Carolina, Southern California, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas A&M, UC Davis, UCLA, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Wake Forest, Washington
Individuals:
Jessica Negron, Florida State
Caroline Powers, Michigan State
Lindy Duncan, Duke
Maribel Lopez Porras, Tulane
Marta Silva Zamora, Georgia
Amy Anderson, North Dakota State
