Gators Golf
The Florida Gators women's golf team. [Photo from @GatorsGolf via Twitter]

Florida Women’s Golf Looks to Capture First SEC Championship Title Since 2017

After placing top-five in each of its final four regular-season events, Florida women’s golf will travel to Birmingham, Alabama, for this week’s SEC Championship at Greystone Golf and Country Club. The course will play just over 6,300 yards as a par-72.

Golfers will tee off Wednesday morning and play 18 holes for three consecutive days. After completing 54 holes, the top-eight teams will advance to the weekend’s match-play elimination round. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be held on Saturday before the SEC Network airs Sunday’s final.

Gator Lineup

Florida will start a trio of seniors — Annabell Fuller, Jackie Lucena and Marina Escobar — in addition to junior Maisie Filler and freshman Karoline Tuttle. Each Gator is paired with a golfer from Kentucky and Vanderbilt.

Fuller — who leads the Gators with four top-10 finishes this season — is ranked No. 36 in the latest Golfweek Women’s Collegiate Individual Rankings. Through 24 rounds, the London, England, native is averaging a team-low 71.8.

Filler (No. 49) and Lucena (No. 98) each cracked the nation’s top-100.

Filler placed top-10 in three events this season, which includes a runner-up finish at the Gator Invitational. In the second round, she carded a 5-under-par 65 — the lowest 18-hole score of any Florida women’s golfer this season. Last month, Filler became just the fifth Gator in history to compete in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

Lucena finished the season strong as she placed top-10 in three of her final four outings. Last February at the Moon Golf Invitational, the California native recorded an ace to help her card a season-low, 6-under-par 66.

Escobar will look to build off her top-10 finish at the Gator Invitational, while Tuttle looks to break par for the first time in her collegiate career.

SEC Competition

The Gators are the eighth-highest ranked team entering a stacked conference championship. In the latest Golfweek Women’s Team Collegiate Rankings, Florida is No. 19 — one spot behind Vanderbilt and two spots behind Ole Miss.

Five SEC teams are ranked inside the nation’s top-10. This includes No. 3 South Carolina, No. 4 LSU, No. 5 Texas A&M, No. 7 Mississippi State and No. 9 Auburn. Swedish LSU senior Ingrid Lindblad enters the tournament as the highest ranked individual (No. 3).

Tournament History

Since the first-ever SEC Championship in 1981, Florida has nine team titles and seven individual titles. In last year’s event, the Gators finished runner-up after they made it to the match-play final. Florida will look to capture its first team title since 2017.

About Griffin Foll

Hi, my name is Griffin Foll and I am currently a senior at UF studying journalism with a focus on sports and media and an outside concentration in political science. In addition to covering the 2023 UF men's and women's golf beats, I contribute weekly web and radio content for WRUF ESPN Gainesville. Be sure to check out some of my recent articles!

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