Florida Defends Bostick and Claims Seventh Straight VyStar Gators Invitational Title
The Gators won the event for the seventh straight year and 25th time in program history.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida women’s golf team defended Mark Bostick and claimed its seventh straight title at the 50th VyStar Gators Invitational on Sunday.
Florida rallied and won the tournament for the 25th time in program history after entering the day seven strokes off the lead from No. 2 Oklahoma State. The Gators trailed as much as four strokes with nine holes remaining, but a late rally pushed them into a tie with Michigan for first. Both sides agreed to end a tie due to travel schedules.
The victory was also the second of the spring and the 27th under head coach Emily Glaser.
Leading the way for UF was Marina Escobar and Annabell Fuller in the final round. Escobar shot 2-under 68 on the afternoon, highlighted by two consecutive birdies on 15 and 16 along with a great put on 18 to end T4. Also tied for fourth Fuller finished 1-under 69 for her sixth-round under-par this season.
Two other Gators ended in the top-25 in Maisie Filler (T12) and Clara Manzalini (T17) who both shot an even 72 on the final day. Rounding out the lineup was Jackie Lucena tied for 26th.
Jenny Kim (individual) recorded her third top-5 finish of the season in T4 and she had the best finish among the individuals over the weekend.
The Orange and Blue leave the Sunshine State for the first time and head out west to the Mountain View Invitational in Tucson, Arizona from March 18-20 then wrapping up the regular season at the Clemson Invitational (March 25-27).
Quotable
Head Coach Emily Glaser
On winning this weekend…
“Always pleased to win. Winning is hard. We knew it was going to be especially hard this year because the field was good. It was really close at the end and I have to be honest, I’m not sure I expected that. The scoreboard changed from me at the bottom of the hill to driving to the top of the hill. It was exciting and I am happy for the team. I don’t think we had our best stuff this week, but that’s the advantage of being at home. If you can play to your strengths and we know the golf course better than anyone, so that helped us pull it through at the end.”
On about the team with the comeback victory…
“Their attitudes were great and they were grinding. We talk about that a lot as a team. In this tournament or any tournament when the scores are that tight it really is the difference maker. You never know how you finished the last three holes a certain way. Another team does something different and that can be a huge swing in a close tournament. It paid off for us today and I’m just really proud of them for grinding it out.”
On Marina Escobar’s performance…
“She really plays well when her back is against the wall. She plays well when it’s tight. She knew when she came around the 18th that she had three holes to play, and knew the score was tight and played well coming in. That’s the kind of player she is. We just need to keep harnessing and channeling that as we get closer to the postseason. She grows every week and I am happy for her to put up a number for the team this week.”
On Annabell Fuller’s performance…
“Every week she gets a little better too. She’s been playing well and the numbers haven’t quite shown that. So I am happy for her to shoot a couple good numbers this week and I think that will really help her confidence. She is a world class player, but golf is funny. Just because your a world class player doesn’t mean play like that every week. She has shown some maturity in how she handles those situations. Still good for her to post some numbers this week and that will help her in the next couple months.”
Annabell Fuller
On what was working for you on the course today…
“I had a bit better today, which is an advantage kind of when you hit the greens because it’s really tricky when you miss them. I mean, the greens are tricky as they are, but then when you have to chip on to them and then put it makes it a little bit more challenging.”
On winning at home and the comeback victory…
“It’s obviously a huge honor to win at home. So to do it again, another year in a row is great. I had no doubt with the girl on my team. They’re all really feisty and hugely competitive and kind of knowing that we won the past couple years and when you play here every day, almost. I think kind of we know the breaks, we know the puts. It’s just by executing the game that we all have.”
On being able to come from behind…
“I think kind of knowing that the others can do it motivates me to do it and I think we all have each other’s back. We’re a super close team, which is nice. And I think that kind of works for advantage as well.”
On a signature moment from today…
“I think probably on the 12th hole kind of having everyone there and I stuck my pitch nice and close and had everyone cheer. It’s nice because everybody kind of sits around the 12 green.”
Scores
Florida Individual
Place
Player
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Score
T4
71
72
69
212 (+2)
T4
73
71
68
212 (+2)
T4
69
71
72
212 (+2)
T12
69
72
72
213 (+3)
T17
74
70
72
216 (+6)
T26
72
72
74
218 (+8)
*Competing as an individual
Team Leaderboard
Place
Team
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Score
T1
Florida
285
285
281
851 (+11)
T1
Michigan
287
288
276
851 (+11)
3
Oklahoma State
289
274
291
854 (+14)
4
Mississippi State
286
286
287
859 (+19)
5
Michigan State
295
284
283
862 (+22)
6
Ole Miss
285
285
294
864 (+24)
7
Campbell
290
293
286
869 (+29)
8
UCF
293
291
287
871 (+31)
9
Denver
291
291
290
872 (+32)
T10
NC State
298
290
291
879 (+39)
T10
Maryland
287
295
297
879 (+39)
12
Tennessee
300
294
295
889 (+49)
13
ETSU.
289
300
301
890 (+50)
14
Indiana
308
299
296
903 (+63)
15
FIU
313
302
310
925 (+85)
