Bulls Eye More Program Progress at Gators Invitational

USF women’s golf is on a run of two straight top-five finishes heading into No. 9 Florida’s home event that takes place Saturday and Sunday in Gainesville.

EVENT: Gators Invitational
DATES: Saturday, March 7– Sunday, March 8
SCHEDULE: 8:15 a.m. shotgun start Saturday (36 holes); 9 a.m. shotgun start Sunday
LOCATION: Mark Bostick Golf Course, Gainesville, Fla.
COURSE INFO: Par 70, 6,701 yards
 
 

TAMPA, MARCH 6, 2020 – Following a top-five performance at Florida State’s home event, USF women’s golf looks to continue “The Uprising” of the program in Gainesville.

Action at the two-day Gators Invitational begins Saturday with 36 holes at Mark Bostick Golf Course (par 70, 6,701 yards). Nearly half of this year’s 12-team field is ranked in the top 50 nationally, including host and ninth-ranked Florida.  

USF returns to competition after a fifth-place finish at the Florida State Match-Up in Panama City on March 1. Freshman standout Erika Smith tied for 10th place to help the Bulls post their second straight top-five finish and third in six events this season.

The Gators Invitational marks the second of three tournaments in a three-week span for the Bulls. USF will wrap up its busy stretch March 14-15 at the Augusta Valspar Invitational in Georgia.
 

Gators Invitational Field
USF, host and No. 9 Florida, No. 26 Virginia Tech, No. 43 UCF, No. 44 Michigan, Campbell, Daytona State, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Kansas, Tennessee and Penn State.
 

The Lineup

  1. Erika Smith – The freshman from Orlando tied for 10th at the Florida State Match-Up after starting the spring with a nine-shot victory at the Old Friends Invitational on Feb. 18. Smith leads the Bulls with a 73.16 season scoring average, seven rounds of par or better, three top-10 finishes and four top-25 performances.
  2. Jessica Whitting – The redshirt junior from Perth, Australia tied for 19th place the last time out at the Florida State Match-Up. Whitting tied for 11th place in USF’s spring opener and has put together three top-25 performances in her first six events with the program.
  3. Sadie Dewinton-Davies – The senior from Newtown, Wales tied for 22nd place at the Florida State Match-Up following a ninth-place showing at the Bulls’ home event. Dewinton-Davies ranks second on the team with a 75.66 season scoring average.
  4. Ramya Meenakshisundaram – The sophomore from Jacksonville, Fla., shined in USF’s first spring event while earning a share of runner-up honors at the Old Friends Invitational.
  5. Ashley Zagers – The junior from Oldsmar, Fla., is in the lineup for the sixth time out of seven events this season. Zagers’ top finish so far was a 13th-place showing at the Old Friends Invitational.

 
Quotable
Assistant coach Dalton Stevens’ thoughts heading into USF’s third event of the spring season:
“We are coming off a solid performance this past week at Florida State’s event where we proved that we belong with some of the best teams. This weekend is another big opportunity in front of us to see some more great teams and continue the momentum that we have gained from our first two events of the spring. The team is hungry to continue the strong strides that we have made this spring and very excited about the opportunity ahead in Gainesville this weekend.”
 
 
About USF Women’s Golf
Veteran head coach Erika Brennan completed her first full season with USF in 2018-19 and helped the Bulls become the second-fastest rising program in the country as they climbed 75 spots in the national Golfstat rankings. The Bulls opened the 2018 fall season with a runner-up finish at the USA Intercollegiate and also placed second at the FIU Pat Bradley Invitational to wrap up their four-tournament run before the spring. In the spring opener, USF captured the program’s first tournament team title since April 11, 2017 with a two-shot victory at the Florida Challenge. USF finished up the regular season with a 22-shot win at the John Kirk Panther Intercollegiate on April 2. Freshman Ramya Meenakshisundaram became the first Bull to earn all-conference honors since 2016. 

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