Florida defeated the No. 2-seeded Tigers 5-0 to advance to the SEC Championship Semifinals vs. Arkansas this afternoon.
BELLEAIR, Fla. – The No. 7-seed Florida women’s golf team blanked the No. 2-seed LSU Tigers 5-0 in the SEC Championship Quarterfinals on Thursday at Pelican Golf Club.
The outing marked a rematch of the 2022 SEC Championship Finals that saw the Tigers defeat Florida 4-1 for the conference title. The victory moves the all-time record to 1-2 vs. the Tigers in match play since 2002.
UF will face the No. 6-seed Arkansas Razorbacks in the SEC Championship Semifinals today at approximately 2:20 p.m. The two schools last faced off in the conference tournament quarterfinals in 2018 that saw Arkansas win 3-2. Coverage of the match can been streamed live on ESPN+/SECN+. The winner between UF and Arkansas will face the winner of No. 1-seed South Carolina and No. 4-seed Ole Miss in the SEC Championship Finals tomorrow at 10 a.m. on Sunday live on SEC Network.
Florida got off to a hot start vs. the No. 2-seeded and No. 11 ranked Tigers. As all five matches were two holes in, UF held the lead in four matches behind Addison Klonowski, who was playing in the anchor match, chipped-in on hole two.
The Orange and Blue started to gain multiple leads in four of the five matches as both Karoline Tuttle and Klonowski each made birdie on six to go 3Up and 2Up while Jessica Guiser was 4Up and Inès Archer 2Up at the time.
Once all five matches finished the front nine, Florida led in four of the five all by two-plus shots as the only match they didn’t lead was tied as Paula Francisco battled back from 3 down thru six holes and tied her match on 10.
The first match out today turned into the first point for the Gators as Tuttle won 6&5 after three straight holes won on 11-13 behind birdies on 11 and 12. Florida then took the lead in all four remaining matches after Paula making par on 15 to go 1Up.
A freshman, Guiser, moved Florida up 2-0 in a dominant 4&3 victory in which she only lost two holes in 15 holes played. The Gators were chasing the clinching-point as they controlled all three remaining matches.
For the match-clinching point, all three matches left could have clinched it any moment for Florida as Paula Francisco was 1Up on 18, Archer 1Up on 17 and Addison Klonowski 2Up on 16. Klonowski would come away with the clinching point, a 3&2 win. Since Archer and Francisco were both leading their matches when Klonowksi finished, they earn the victories.
Florida 5, LSU 0
Karoline Tuttle 6&5 vs. Aine Donegan
Paula Francisco 1&1 vs. Elsa Svensson
Inès Archer 1&2 vs. Rocio Tejedo
Jessica Guiser 4&3 vs. Josefin Widal
Addison Klonowski 3&2 vs. Taylor Riely
Pairings vs. Arkansas:
2:20 p.m. | Karoline Tuttle vs. Kendall Todd
2:30 p.m. | Paula Francisco vs. Abbey Schutte
2:40 p.m. | Inès Archer vs. Clarisa Temelo
2:50 p.m. | Jessica Guiser vs. Maria Jose Marin
3 p.m. | Addison Klonowski vs. Reagan Zibilski
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