Florida Women’s Golf Travels to Athens Ahead of SEC Championship

After tying for fourth place at an abbreviated Augusta Invitational, Florida women’s golf will travel to Athens, Georgia, to play in the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic this weekend.

The three-day, 54-hole, tournament hosted by Georgia will kick off Friday with a shotgun start at 8:45 a.m. 15 teams including the Gators and Bulldogs will tee off at the UGA Golf Course — set to play as a 6,326-yard par-72.

Gator Boast Familiar Lineup

Florida will start a trio of seniors — Jackie Lucena, Annabell Fuller and Marina Escobar — in addition to junior Maisie Filler and freshman Karoline Tuttle.

In Wednesday’s Golfweek Women’s Collegiate Individual Rankings, Fuller (39), Filler (72) and Lucena (82) all cracked the top-100.

Fuller placed top-10 in two of her previous three outings. Filler finished runner-up at the Gators Invitational earlier this month but will look to rebound after she carded a 7-over-par 79 in the second round of the Augusta Invitational. Lucena shot even-par or better in five of her past seven rounds en route to three straight top-10 finishes.

Escobar finished 12-over-par at the Augusta Invitational (T-65), while Tuttle finished 7-over-par as an individual (T-49).

Florida will look to place top five on the team leaderboard for its fourth consecutive tournament. The Orange and Blue took third place at the Moon Golf Invitational last month before defending their home course.

Champions 🏆🐊 #GoGators pic.twitter.com/Wdt0zRreXQ

— Gators Golf (@GatorsGolf) March 5, 2023

Teams Competing

The Gators will face six SEC rivals in addition to five top-25 nationally ranked teams. Number 21 Florida will play against (3) South Carolina, (4) Texas A&M, (14) Auburn, (18) Virginia and (25 )Georgia. Alabama and Arkansas — who each cracked the top-50 in Wednesday’s Golfweek Women’s Team Collegiate Rankings — are also set to compete.

South Carolina sophomore Hannah Darling (4) and Georgia senior Jenny Bae (5) are the highest individually ranked golfers in the field. Each Gator will play alongside an Auburn golfer as well as a UNC golfer.

SEC Championship

Following this weekend’s final regular-season tournament, the Gators will prepare for the SEC Championship held in Birmingham, Alabama. The event will kick off on April 12 at Greystone Golf and Country Club. The match-play final is scheduled for April 16 and will air on the SEC Network.