The Gators were edged 3.5-1.5 against the No. 1-seed Gamecocks.
BELLEAIR, Fla. – The Florida women’s golf team battled all week and reached the SEC Championship Finals before being edged out by the No. 1-seed South Carolina Gamecocks 3.5-1.5 on Friday at Pelican Golf Club.
Florida reached the conference match play finals for the second time in program history since the format was added in 2018. The Gators knocked off No. 2 LSU 5-0 in the quarterfinals and No. 6-seed and No. 2 ranked Arkansas Razorbacks 3-2 in the semifinals. The lineup this week featured all five underclassmen and a true freshman substitute as all three teams UF faced in match play had two or more upperclassmen in their lineup.
In the last four events the Gators have won two times and finished runner-up twice. The Orange and Blue have finished 5th or better in every event this season. The postseason continues for the Gators as they will then learn their NCAA Regional selection on April 23, live on Golf Channel. The six possible locations include:
* Superstition Mountain G&CC, Gold Canyon, Arizona (Arizona State)
* Jimmie Austin OU GC, Norman, Oklahoma (Oklahoma)
* Birdwood GC, Charlottesville, Virginia (Virginia)
* Keene Trace GC (Champions), Lexington, Kentucky (Kentucky)
* The Rawls Course, Lubbock, Texas (Texas Tech)
* Ohio State University GC (Scarlet), Columbus, Ohio (Ohio State)
Once all five matches were underway, the score was 2-0-3 in favor of the Gators as Paula Francisco (thru 3) and Karoline Tuttle (thru 4) were both 1Up. Francisco then moved to 2Up winning back-to-back holes on three and four.
South Carolina grabbed a 3-2 lead leading the last three matches, as teams were between holes two-five. The match then moved to a 2-2-1 as Archer won and made birdie to take hole five.
The lead changed throughout the front nine, once all five matchups made the turn South Carolina led 2-1-2 with two matches by two holes while Francisco was 1Up, Tuttle tied and Addison Klonowski moving her match to all squared behind a victory on nine after being one down in previous seven holes.
Tuttle regained her lead with a par on the 13th to push 1Up after leading by two thru eight holes. The redshirt-sophomore then secured the first point for Florida, winning back-to-back holes on 16 and 17 to win 3&1. She finished 2-1 in match play this week.
Down one on 16, Francisco took the hole to square the match as Florida was up 1-0 and while one match was tied (Klonowski) and South Carolina leading by multiple holes in the middle matches: 2Up thru 15 against Inès Archer and 3Up thru 14 vs. Jessica Guiser.
The Gamecocks, who won the stroke play portion at 16-under, went up 2-1 with 3&1 and 3&2 victories in matches three and four. Searching for the match-clinching point and leading in both remaining matches, including 1Up on the 18th between Hannah Darling and Francisco, the Gators didn’t back down. The sophomore, Francisco, stepped up again on the final hole and made birdie, sending her match to extra holes. Yesterday evening Francisco made a putt on the second-hardest hole in stroke play for a crucial second point in the semifinals vs. Arkansas.
Teeing off on the 10th, which fairway runs next to the 17th green, Lousie Rydqvist made a forty-foot birdie from the front of the green forcing Klonowski to make her putt to tie the hole and keep the match alive. Klonowski had a look but the putt went left, and South Carolina won the match-clinching point for the conference title, their second in program history.
Francisco’s extra holes match ends in a tie with each team earning half-a-point due to it ongoing when South Carolina clinched the final point. Francisco finishes match play 2-0-1.
No. 1 South Carolina 3.5, No. 7 Florida 1.5
Karoline Tuttle 3&1 vs. Sophia Burnett
Paula Francisco TIED vs. Hannah Darling
Eila Galitsky 3&1 vs. Inès Archer
Maylis Lamoure 3&2 vs. Jessica Guiser
Louise Rydqvist 2&1 vs. Addison Klonowski
Head Coach Emily Glaser
Q: What did you learn about your team this week:
A: “Just really proud of them, they are feisty, they are fighters, they are hungry and work really hard. We got a lot of great things with this group that I am really excited about. I am incredibly proud of how they competed this week.”
Q: Excitement level of this is the next wave of Gator Golf?
A: “I think that (future) is what we talked about. We knew going into today we had a great chance of what roster or rankings say. I’m proud of the fight they put up and that was a great South Carolina team no doubt about that. We hung in there and were right with them, and that makes us very excited for the future.”
Q: One thing for the team to work before NCAA Regionals?
A: “I think we had some management issues that sometimes you see in young teams. A lack of experience in a few cases and some short game stuff that we work on. We feel pretty excited the fact that when you start to close some of those doors in their game, they are going to be a really special team.”
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