Florida sophomore Paula Francisco shot a round one of 3-under 67 with the Gators in sixth.
BELLEAIR, Fla. – Florida women’s golfer Paula Francisco led the Gators with a 3-under 67 in the opening round of the SEC Championship on Monday at Pelican Golf Club.
Florida had a team round of 282 (+2) and are in 6th through 18-holes. The Gators will tee off the second-round tomorrow at 8:10 a.m. paired with Ole Miss and Texas, who are both tied for 4th at 1-under. Following the third round of stroke play, the top-8 teams advance to match play.
Francisco’s 67 (-3) was a postseason career-low for the sophomore and marked the lowest round by score and par at the SEC Championship by a Gator since Marina Escobar’s 67 (-5) in 2022. Francisco began with one her six birdies to start her second conference tournament, which ranked second in the field. After a bogey on nine, she finished bogey-free 3-under with a stretch of three birdies in the first four holes on the back nine. Francisco is tied for 6th and two back of the solo lead.
Karoline Tuttle closed strong with a birdie on the par-4 18th, which tied for the second-hardest hole on the course today with a mark of +.40 and featured 11-plus double-bogeys or higher. She was 2-over with five holes left and finished bogey-free 2-under to shoot an even-par 70 to sit T20.
The final two counting scores finished within a stroke from each other in Jessica Guiser’s 72 (+2) and Inès Archer’s 73 (+3). The pair are tied for 38th and 48th, respectively.
Rounding out the lineup was Addison Klonowski with a 77 (+7).
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