For SEC Champion Torres, More Words Equals Fewer Strokes

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — As she walked from the 17th green Sunday, a second straight birdie tucked away, Florida junior Maria Torres didn't know for sure where she stood in the hunt for the Southeastern Conference medalist crown. What Torres did know, however, was that she wanted her coach at her side for No. 18.

"I need you for the layup," Torres told Emily Glaser.

This may not sound like much of an exchange, but for Torres this modicum of interaction served as a snapshot of her growth since arriving at UF two summers ago as a shy, giggly teenager from Puerto Rico. During her freshmen and sophomore seasons, Glaser gave Torres some latitude relative to her immaturity, chalking some of it up to the language barrier, to being away from home and just needing time to grow up. But two seasons were enough.

Before Torres left for home last summer, Glaser called her into the office for what the coach termed some "candid conversations," encouraging her player to come back to school in the fall with a better, more forceful and confident way of articulating herself. To get out of her comfort zone.

On Sunday, Torres was adamant about wanting her coach there for that all important third shot on the par-5 18th; a 95-yard wedge into a green flanked left by a bunker and water to the right.

She stuck it to six feet.

"Where do we stand?" Torres asked.

"The team? Or you?" Glaser asked back.

"Both."

No. 1 Alabama, Glaser explained, had gotten hot and led by five strokes. UF had entered the final day tied with the Crimson Tide, so that was disappointing. Torres wasn't expecting what came next.

"But you have a two-stroke lead."

Torres, surprised, had no problem expressing herself at that point, but this is a family website so we'll bypass the quote. She took her easy two-putt for par and became the first Gator to win the SEC individual women's title since Aimee Cho in 2003, while helping UF to a runner-up finish over a weekend when the Gators basically went tee-to-green against the Crimson Tide.

"I don't know how it's going to go next tournament," Torres said Tuesday. "But I feel good about this one."

For sure, Florida has some nice momentum heading toward NCAA regional play and Torres got a heavy dose of confidence after carding a 9-under tournament score of 207 (the second-lowest tourney total in school history) that equaled the program's lowest 54-hole scoreever at the SEC Championship. As for Torres, she came into the season with a career stroke average of 74.55, but in 2016 leads the squad at 71.83 per round to go with four top-10 finishes, nine top-25s and now a conference championship trophy.

"A confident Maria is good for this team," Glaser said. "Whether she realizes it or not, she's gone into a leadership role. Maybe not as a vocal leader, but it's something she now wants and her teammates know that. It builds trust."

If Torres is any indication, Glaser — in the larger picture — is building something very sound over in the land of Mark Bostick. Maybe it's a fitting example, given Torres was Glaser's first recruit when she was promoted from UF assistant to head coach in 2012. From the start, one of Glaser's emphases in the locker room was communication.

During team meetings in previous years, when each player was required to speak on a given topic, Torres either wouldn't or couldn't. She preferred the comfort of her shell.

In one glaring example, Glaser recalled a tournament the Gators played in frigid conditions. All her players were appropriately wrapped for the weather, yet Torres played in short sleeves. At the end of the round, the look on her face was one of misery. Glaser asked Torres why she didn't dress for the cold. Torres told her she didn't have a jacket she liked or felt comfortable swinging in. The player's answer infuriated the coach.

"That was unacceptable at this level of competition," Glaser said. "We'd have gotten her 10 different jackets to try until she found one she liked."

All Torres had to do was speak up. Never did.

Maria Torres, out of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, was Emily Glaser's first recruit as head coach at UF.

Marching orders to do so came after her sophomore year. She needed to put herself out there. She needed to do something as simple as execute an interview with the media. Glaser sent her home and told her to come back ready for interaction.

"We kind of had a really deep meeting and I feel it helped me," said Torres, who returned from her home in Trujillo Alto, P.R., with a more willingness to open up, a development that also helped her confront some things about her golf game. "The challenge was the communication part because I struggle with that. I think she helped me face that."

When Torres reported back, she came to Glaser's office beaming with a nice, loud, "Hey Coach!" It was as if she was announcing herself. A coming out party.

Same bubbly personality. Same fiery competitor. Now with more of a voice to back it all up.

That voice felt the need to be heard Sunday.

"Before," Torres said, "I never would have told her I needed her on that last hole."

Torres, of course, had a nice golf base to work from. She did pretty well on the two holes before that 18th. Unaware that South Carolina's Katelyn Dambaugh — en route to a final round 6-under 66 — had shot up the leaderboard to take a one-shot lead while Torres still had three holes to play, she stood on the tee box at 16 and got some advice from Glaser.

"Let's get a birdie here," she said.

She did. Got another one at 17 also, holing a 25-foot downhill putt with a break on a par-3. Then came that walk to 18.

And a short, but very meaningful conversation.

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