BELLEAIR, Fla. - Entering today's final round of stroke play at the SEC Championship one-shot back of the match play cut with eight teams battling for the final five spots, the No. 25 Florida women's golf team used a 6-under back nine to shoot 2-under in the final round to secure 7th and advance to the match play quarterfinals on Wednesday.
The Gators made the match play cut for the fifth time since the format was added in 2018, including three times in the last four seasons. Florida earned the No. 7 seed and will face No. 2 LSU at 8:50 a.m. The outing will mark a rematch of the 2022 SEC Championship Finals where the Tigers edged the Gators 4-1.
The winner between UF and LSU will take on the winner of No. 3 Texas and No. 6 Arkansas at 1:20 p.m. tomorrow in the semifinals as the SEC Championship Finals are set for 10 a.m. on Sunday live on SEC Network. Coverage of the semifinal action begins at 1 p.m. on ESPN+/SECN+.
It was set for a battle at Pelican Golf Club as the final five match play spots were up for grabs, as eight teams were all within reach with the biggest lead at eight shots between Ole Miss (4th) and Alabama (11th). Florida entered today's round tied for 9th and just one-shot back of Tennessee and Texas A&M, who held the final two advancing spots in T7 after yesterday.
When Florida teed off the final round of stroke play, they were one-shot behind Arkansas and Mississippi State, who held the final two match play advancing spots at +7. Once all five Gators were on the course they bounced in and out of 8th before jumping to a three-shot lead in 8th at the turn over Auburn and Alabama at +11.
The Gators made the turn, pulling away and never looking back, thanks to a strong start led by
Inès Archer who went birdie-eagle-birdie and
Addison Klonowski with back-to-back birdies on 11-12. Klonowski made five consecutive birdies, including six in a seven-hole stretch across holes 11-16 for a 5-under back nine. The redshirt-freshman improved from her opening round of 77 (+7) and second of 71 (+1) with a final round of 3-under 67 to climb 21 spots and finish T37.
Archer was the second UF golfer to post in the red as she logged a 2-under 68 to finish T26. She capped off her 4-under back-nine with a birdie on the par4 (350 yards) 18th, which played the second-hardest hole with an average of 4.41.
Securing the top finish for the Orange and Blue,
Paula Francisco tied for 11th at 1-under overall. She made two birdies on 11 and 15, which gave UF an 11-shot advantage for the final 12-counting-holes. Francisco had a final round of 71 (+1) and was one of 12 golfers to finish under par for stroke play.
Freshman
Jessica Guiser set the pace for Florida on the front-nine behind a bogey-free 1-under performance. She finished with a 72 (+2) in round three to place T43 with
Karoline Tuttle.
Match Play Pairings vs. No. 2 LSU (SEC Championship Quarterfinals)
8:50 a.m. | Karoline Tuttle vs. Aine Donegan
9 a.m. | Paula Francisco vs. Elsa Svensson
9:10 a.m. | Inès Archer vs. Rocio Tejedo
9:20 a.m. | Jessica Guiser vs. Josefin Widal
9:30 a.m. | Addison Klonowski vs. Taylor Riely
Florida Leaderboard
Team Leaderboard
| Position |
School |
Round 1 |
Round 2 |
Round 3 |
Score |
Par |
| 1 |
South Carolina |
266 |
274 |
284 |
824 |
-16 |
| 2 |
LSU |
275 |
279 |
276 |
830 |
-10 |
| 3 |
Texas |
279 |
280 |
276 |
835 |
-5 |
| 4 |
Ole Miss |
279 |
283 |
277 |
839 |
-1 |
| 5 |
Mississippi State |
283 |
284 |
274 |
841 |
+1 |
| 6 |
Arkansas |
288 |
280 |
277 |
845 |
+5 |
| 7 |
Florida |
282 |
286 |
278 |
846 |
+6 |
| 8 |
Tennessee |
283 |
283 |
281 |
847 |
+7 |
| Top-8 Match Play Cut |
| 9 |
Auburn |
276 |
289 |
288 |
853 |
+13 |
| 10 |
Texas A&M |
284 |
283 |
294 |
861 |
+21 |
| 11 |
Kentucky |
286 |
292 |
284 |
862 |
+22 |
| 12 |
Alabama |
286 |
284 |
293 |
863 |
+23 |
| 13 |
Missouri |
288 |
297 |
284 |
869 |
+29 |
| 14 |
Oklahoma |
288 |
296 |
288 |
872 |
+32 |
| 15 |
Vanderbilt |
288 |
302 |
290 |
880 |
+40 |
| 16 |
Georgia |
306 |
298 |
294 |
898 |
+58 |
