The University of Florida women’s golf team recorded its best round of the 2007 NCAA West Regional on Saturday, posting a 297 (+13) to conclude the tournament in 10th place. The Lady Gators turned in a total of 910 (+58) at the three-day tournament, missing the cut for the NCAA Championships by just two strokes.

“We gave it our best effort today, but unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be,” Florida head coach Jill Briles-Hinton said. “This team is capable of making it to nationals, and they will certainly use this as motivation from here on out. Both the field and course were tremendously challenging, and to our credit, we never gave up or got down on ourselves.”

Sophomore Mallory Blackwelder (Versailles, Ky.) capped off her second collegiate campaign on Saturday with a team-best 72 (+1), the best postseason round of her career. She got off to a quick start with birdies on her first two holes, and added the third of her trio of circled numbers on the first hole, which was her ninth (UF began play on the 10th hole). She finished the tournament in a tie for 19th place with a 54-hole total of 224 (+11).

Joining Blackwelder in that 19th-place tie was junior Sandra Gal (Leichlingen, Germany), whose two-over 73 on Saturday to get to 224 (+11) for the tournament. The third-round effort, her best of the tournament, included three birdies. Gal carded a team-best 11 birdies over the event’s three days of competition.

Junior Whitney Myers (East Berlin, Pa.) also posted her best round of the West Regional on the final day of competition, turning in a four-over 75 to earn a share of 66th. Myers’ third-round showing put her tournament total at 237 (+24). Redshirt sophomore Ornella Jouven (La Ciotat, France) chipped in with a six-over 77 on Saturday, while junior Tiffany Chudy (Miramar, Fla.) posted a final-round 82 (+11). The duo finished in a tie for 24th and a tie for 95th with totals of 225 (+12) and 251 (+38), respectively.

“We played great on the back nine today, which had been our Achilles’ heel for the entire tournament,” Briles-Hinton said. “The toughest time to make birdies is when you absolutely have to, and that caught up with us today. We fought an uphill battle the whole way, but we never quit. That shows a lot about the character of this team.”

Oklahoma State and Stanford shared top team honors at the West Regional, knotting atop the leader board with totals of 874 (+22). Oklahoma State’s Pernilla Lindberg fired her third-consecutive round below par, a one-under 70, to take the wire-to-wire win (206, -7).

Final Team Standings

Individual Top-10

Florida Results

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