The Florida women’s golf team is currently in a tie for 14th place following the first round of the Mason Rudolph Women’s Championships on Friday. The Gators carded a team score of 292 (+4) at the par-72, 6,271-yard Vanderbilt Legends Club North Course.

“Obviously our current spot on the leaderboard wasn’t what we wanted but there are a lot of positive things to take from today,” said head coach Jan Dowling. “We didn’t get off to the start that we had hoped to, but there is still a lot of golf to be played and it is a tight race to say the least. As simple as it sounds, we just didn’t make as many birdies as everyone else.”

The Gators were led by Evan Jensen (Bellaire, Fla.) who finished the afternoon in a tie for eighth place with a three-under 69. Jensen made a bogey on her second hole and never looked back as she went on to collect three birdies on five holes, including two back-to-back on her seventh and eighth holes. The sophomore entered the turn at two-under and finished the first round with one final birdie on her 17th hole.

“Evan played really solid and is playing some of her best golf,” said Dowling. “It was really fun to watch her play today.”

Andrea Watts (Bradenton, Fla.) had a solid afternoon, after making a bogey on her third hole, the sophomore rallied back to collect three birdies on four holes to enter the turn at two-under par. Back-to-back bogey on her 10^th and 11^th hole put Watts back at even par. She tallied one birdie, three pars and two bogeys on her final six holes to finish the afternoon in a tie for 42^nd with a one-over 73.

Sophomore Marika Lendl (Bradenton, Fla.) played consistently the entire afternoon. After making a bogey on her third hole, Lendl rallied back to birdie her fourth hole. She went on to make 13 consecutive pars before making a bogey on her final hole to finish the day with a one-over 73, good for a tie for 42^nd.  

In her first appearance of the season for Florida, Jessica Yadloczky (Casselberry, Fla.) finished the round in a tie for 79th. The junior got off to a rough start making a birdie on her first hole, double bogey on her second and another bogey on her fourth. A bogey on her 11^th finalized her score at four-over 76.

Freshman Mia Piccio (Bacolod City, Philippines) rounded out the Gators’ lineup in a tie for 85^th place after carding a seven-over 79. Piccio collected one birdie, ten pars, six bogeys and one double bogey on the afternoon.

Tee times for the second round of the Mason Rudolph Women’s Championships are scheduled for 9 a.m. ET. Visit www.GatorZone.com or www.golfstat.com for live scoring and updated results.

 Team Scores After Round 1

   Individual Top 10 Through Round 1

  Florida Results After Round 1

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