UF golfer earns SEC sportsmanship award

Freshman golfer Jessica Yadloczky has been named the female recipient of the inaugural SEC Sportsmanship Award, joining Tennessee basektball player Chris Lofton as the male recipient.

The winners will be forwarded for nomination to the NCAA for its national sportsmanship awards, which will be announced in July.

Yadloczky's best finish was a tie for  second at the Northrup/Grumman Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes, Calif.  On the last green, during the second round, she saw her ball had moved after she addressed it.  She did not realize she needed to replace the ball to avoid further penalty and then putted out.

Immediately after the round, Yadloczky reported the situation to UF head coach Jill Briles-Hinton, but because she did not replace the ball before she putted out, the penalty was two strokes.  She ended up finishing second in the tournament by just one stroke.

The SEC awarded Yadloczky, saying "because of her sportsmanship, she has brought honor to herself, to her school and to her sport.''

Added Briles-Hinton: “Golf is by nature a game of honor. The
players are responsible for reporting any infractions and imposing their
own penalties. No one saw the ball move on the green other than Jessica. She gained no competitive advantage, but she knew that she had made a mistake and she rectified the error knowing that she may have put herself in position not to win. She is a great young lady, and always wants to do things the right way.”

Yadloczky finished fifth in the SEC with her season average of 74.00 strokes per round.  She helped lead the Gators to the SEC title and to a ninth-place finish in the NCAA Golf Championships this season.

Women's golf team holds off No. 1 Duke for regional title

Florida took a three-shot lead into Saturday's final round of the NCAA East Regional, then shot a final-round 10-over 298 to edge three-time defending NCAA champion Duke for the Gators' first NCAA Regional title in school history.

Fourth-ranked Florida finished 19-over 883, while top-seeded Duke closed at 20-over 884. Georgia finished third at 25-over 889.

“This team continues to show a lot of heart,” UF coach Jill Briles-Hinton said. “I am so proud of what they have done to pull this off. Our team shows that it never quits and just keeps fighting.”

The top eight teams qualified for the NCAA Championships, which will be played May 20-23 in Albuquerque, N.M. Joining Florida, Duke and Georgia will be Auburn (894), Virginia (898), South Carolina (899), Wake Forest (899) and Furman (900), which edged NCAA host New Mexico by one stroke to earn the final NCAA Championship bid.

Golf in second after regional first round

The women's golf team ended Thursday's first round of the NCAA East Regional in second place behind Duke.

The Blue Devils finished the day as the leader with a 285, followed by the Gators (290) and South Carolina (291).

Women's golf begins title hunt led by 16-year-old

The women's golf team will open today in the NCAA East Regional in Athens, Ga., on a quest for their first regional title and hoping to qualify for the NCAA championships in Albbuquerque May 20-23.

In case you missed it, here's a story about 16-year-old Hannah Yun who has quickly become a star on the Gators' team.

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/colleges/article493763.ece

Golfer Horschel named to Palmer Cup Team

Junior Billy Horschel has been named to the prestigious United States Palmer Cup team, announced Tuesday by the Golf Coaches Association of America.

The eight-player U.S. team will compete against the top collegiate players from Europe in the annual Ryder Cup-style competition, June 26-27, at the Glasgow Golf Club Gailes Links.

Horschel is the only returning member from last year’s victorious American team and posted a 4-0 record during the matches at Caves Valley. The United States, who will be coached by Stanford’s Conrad
Ray, leads the series, 6-4-1 but has lost the last two competitions in Europe. The U.S. won last year’s meeting by an 18-6 margin.

Horschel is a three-time All-SEC First-Team selection.

Golf coach is SEC Coach of Year

GAINESVILLE - Three days after leading her team to Florida's first SEC championship since 1995, women's golf coach Jill Briles-Hinton was named SEC Coach of the Year on Wednesday.

She is the first Florida golf coach to receive the honor honors since Mimi Ryan in 1984 and 1985.

Four Gators were also named to the All-SEC teams.

Freshmen Jessica Yadloczky and Hannah Yun were both named to the SEC All-Freshman team, in addition to receiving first team All-SEC honors. Senior Whitney Myers earned first-team All-SEC honors and senior Tiffany Chuddy was named to the second team.

Women's golf earns SEC championship title

The women's golf team earned its first SEC title since 1995 with a victory on Sunday.

It was the eighth title in Gator program history, and the first for UF coach Jill Briles-Hinton

No. 5 Florida posted a tournament-low 284 to claim the title by 17 shots, completing a wire-to-wire finisht at the Tennessee National Golf Club in Loudon, Tenn.

Florida finished the tournament at 10-over 874. No. 12 Arkansas finished second at 27-over 891.
The 17-shot margin of victory was the largest this decade at the SEC Championship and the largest since Georgia won the title by 18 strokes in 1999.

The Bulldogs finished third on Sunday with a total of 903 (+39). Auburn was fourth at 910 (+46) and South Carolina was fifth at 915 (+51).

Florida’s final-round 4-under 284 was the only under-par round of the tournament and tied for the fourth-lowest round in school history. The 2008 Lady Gators now own four of the top six team rounds in program history. Florida’s second-round 293 was the next lowest round of the weekend by any team.

Florida freshman, 15-year-old Hannah Yun captured runner-up honors with a final-round 72 that put her at 1-under 215 overall, one shot back of the leader.

Florida will now await a bid to an NCAA Regional, May 8-10, at one of the three designated host sites. The tournament venues are in Athens, Ga., Sacramento, Calif., and Austin, Texas. The regional tournament leads up to the NCAA Championships, May 20-23, in Albuquerque, N.M.

Gal named female athlete of the week

GAINESVILLE - UF All-American Sandra Gal was named Female College Player of the Week by Golf World, the publication announced Wednesday.

The feature will appear in the October 19 issue of Golf World.

Gal, ranked No. 9, posted a three-under 210 to set up a playoff with Auburn’s Cydney Clanton for the individual title at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Classic. She birdied her first extra hole to earn her third
college win and helped the fifth-ranked Lady Gators to claim the team title.

Her performance in Knoxville tied the school’s low tournament total for the third time in UF history, equaling the 210 set by Cheryl Morley in 1986 at the Pat Bradley Championships and Page Dunlap in 1985
at the Ryder Championships. Gal leads the team in scoring average this year at a 71.6 clip through six rounds.

Golf World’s “College Players of the Week” section highlights a male and female golfer who have demonstrated outstanding individual play during a seven day period.

UF golfer to begin Walker Cup play

Junior golfer Billy Horschel will compete in Walker Cup Match play on Saturday and Sunday at the Royal County Down Golf Club in Newcastle, Ireland.

Horschel was among the first eight players picked for the 10-man U.S. team by the USGA in early August. Horschel has 16 career top-10 finishes at Florida, including three individual medals. He is currently second all-time in career stroke average with a 71.94 mark, behind former Gator and PGA Tour pro Camilo Villegas’ 71.21.

He is a two-time, first-team All-American and was named the 2007 SEC Player of the Year. The Walker Cup Match is a team tournament between amateurs from the U.S. against a squad from Great Britain and Ireland that began in 1922. It is held biennially, hosted at sites alternating between the two teams.

A total of 24 matches will be played during the two-day competition. Two different forms of match play are used in the competition; singles and foursomes (alternate shot). Four foursomes and eight singles matches are played on each of the two days of competition.