Florida shot an opening round of 1-under 278 as Siuue Wu (-3, T5), Elaine Widjaja (-3, T5), Paula Francisco (-2, T10) and Inès Archer (E, T16) finished par or better.
WEST POINT, Miss. – The Florida women’s golf team sits in third place with four golfers in the top-16 after a strong opening round of The Ally at Old Waverly Golf Club on Monday.
Defending its team title, the Gators recorded a team score of 1-under 287 to mark one of three teams under par through 18-holes. Host Mississippi State is in second at 9-under with Vanderbilt one shot better at 10-under for the tournament lead.
The freshmen duo of Elaine Widjaja (I) and Siuue Wu tied for the team-low round with a 3-under 69. They are tied for 5th and one shot back of second as the leader is Mississippi State’s Avery Weed, who had a round one of 11-under 61.
Wu erased a double bogey on her fourth hole with four birdies over the next 14 holes, including a 3-under back nine and three consecutive birdies on holes 15-17.
Widjaja began her round with three birdies in her first four holes. She posted her fourth round of under par, tied for the team-best with Addison Klonowski, who is tied for 42nd with Sophie Stevens.
Tied for 10th, Paula Francisco started the fall finale with a 2-under 70 performance. Outside of an early +1 on hole four, she was steady with two birdies coming on eight (par4, 372) and fifteen (par5, 499).
The fourth Gator golfer to finish par or better was Inès Archer, who is tied for 16th. She had an even par 72 behind a birdie on the par3 seventeenth (163).
UF is scheduled to tee off round two tomorrow at 12 p.m.
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