Gators Invitational Recap – Fuller & Glaser on the Mic

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 Annabell Fuller 71 72 69 212 (+2)

T4 Marina Escobar 73 71 68 212 (+2)

T4 Jenny Kim 69 71 72 212 (+2)

T12 Maisie Filler 69 72 72 213 (+3)

T17 Clara Manzalini 74 70 72 216 (+6)

T26 Jackie Lucena 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)