LINEUP

No. 1 – Paula Francisco

No. 2 – Addison Klonowski

No. 3 – Inès Archer  

No. 4 – Jessica Guiser

No. 5 – Elaine Widjaja

Substitute – Karoline Tuttle

TEE OFF

The No. 22 Florida women’s golf team tees of the NCAA National Championships at Omni La Costa in Carlsbad, Calif. on Friday at 9:30 a.m. ET. They enter the final tournament of the year as the No. 17 seed.

THE FIELD (Seed Number)

No. 1 Stanford, No. 2 Arkansas, No. 3 South Carolina, No. 4 Florida State, No. 5 Oregon, No. 6 Texas, No. 7 Wake Forest, No. 8 Arizona State, No. 9 USC, No. 10 Virginia, No. 11 Northwestern, No. 12 LSU, No. 13 Ohio State, No. 14 Ole Miss, No. 15 Mississippi State, No. 16 Kansas, No. 17 Florida, No. 18 Michigan State, No. 19 Vanderbilt, No. 20 Oklahoma State, No. 21 Kansas State, No. 22 UCLA, No. 23 Iowa State, No. 24 Tennessee, No. 25 Georgia Southern, No. 26 Oklahoma, No. 27 UNLV, No. 28 Baylor, No. 29 Purdue and No. 30 Cal State Fullerton  

THE INDIVIDUAL FIELD (Seed Number)

No. 1 Anna Davis (Auburn), No. 2 Marie Madsen (N.C. State), No. 3 Moa Svedenskiold (Houston), No. 4 Sofia Barroso Sa (TCU), No. 5 Audrey Ryu (Furman) and No. 6 Lousiane Gauthier (FGCU).

FORMAT

Play consists of four days of stroke play (18 each day) starting Friday, which first features a 54-hole cut with the top-15 teams and nine individuals on a non-advancing team a spot on Sunday to play in the final round of stroke play on Monday.

 

After the final 18 holes, the top-8 teams will advance to match play and a 72-hole individual champion is crowned. The team national champion will be determined by a match-play format features the quarterfinals and semifinals conducted on Tuesday, followed by the finals on Wednesday.

HOW TO WATCH

Golf Channel will start its broadcast of the tournament on Monday, May 19 for the final round of stroke play starting at 6 p.m. Then Tuesday, May 20 quarterfinal coverage will go from 1-3:30 p.m. followed by the semifinals broadcast starting at 6 p.m. The finals match broadcast begins at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 21.

LAST TIME OUT

Last week at regionals, sophomore Paula Francisco finished runner-up with a 54-hole score of 4-under 209, both career-bests, and just one shot behind medalist honors. Francisco led through the first two rounds and opened her second start in regionals with a career-low 4-under 67, her second of the postseason after the same mark in round one of the SEC Championship. She was tied for a tournament-best this week with 12 birdies and one eagle. The finish is the best by a Gator at an NCAA Regional since 2017 when Kelly Grassel won medalist honors in Columbus. 

Florida had a final team round of 293 (+9) for a three-round score of 864 (+12) to finish tied for 3rd with host Virginia and earn a trip to the final tournament of the season behind an all underclassmen lineup of three sophomores and two freshmen while overcoming some heart breakers at regionals over the last four years, including missing by a shot in back-to-back seasons (2021 & 2022) and leading at the turn last year.

YOUNG GATORS MAKE MARK AT SEC CHAMPIONSHIP

Florida finished runner-up at the SEC Championship, led by a lineup of all underclassmen (three sophomores & two freshmen). The Gators reached the match play finals for the second time in program history since the format was added in 2018 after defeating the No. 2 seed LSU Tigers 5-0 and the No. 6 seed and No. 2 ranked Arkansas Razorbacks 3-2. UF was edged in the finals 3.5-1.5 to the No. 1 seed and veteran (two seniors & graduate student) South Carolina Gamecocks. 

All five in the lineup had key moments in the conference tournament as Addison Klonowski highlighted her first appearance with two match-clinching point victories in the quarterfinals and semifinals while firing a final stroke play round of 3-under 67 to help UF advance to match play. Paula Francisco placed T11 in stroke play and went 2-0-1 in match play with two big putts on the 18th, one to clinch a point in the semifinals and another to keep Florida’s SEC title hopes alive in the finals.   

TOURNAMENT HISTORY

Returning to the National Championships for the first time since 2019 and 29th time in program history since the inaugural NCAA-sanctioned golf tournament in 1982, entering its 43rd year – no tournament in 2020 due to COVID-19. It is the seventh time under head coach Emily Glaser Florida has reached nationals.  

Florida has won two team championships titles in back-to-back years in 1985 and 1986 with Page Dunlap also winning the individual title in 1986. The Gators were the first program to win consecutive titles. 

The last appearance at nationals in 2019, the Gators finished 11th behind Sierra Brooks’ runner-up performance. 

THE GOAT

Head coach Emily Glaser was named to the Women’s Golf Coaches Association National Coach of the Year Watch List.

The Gators have won five tournament titles this season, highlighted by winning three consecutive to end the fall season and back-to-back to finish the regular season this spring. Florida has also had a successful postseason, finishing runner-up at the SEC Championship and a T3 performance at the NCAA Charlottesville Regional to advance to the NCAA Championships this week (May 16-21) at Omni La Costa in Carlsbad, California.  

It has been an all underclassmen lineup this year for the Orange and Blue, which have finished 5th or better in all 11 tournaments, including eight top-3s and five consecutive. Across the last two seasons, Florida has won eight tournament titles.

The victories this year mark back-to-back seasons of three-plus victories for the first time since 2015-16 & 2016-17. UF last won five events in a season in the 2016-17 calendar when they won the SEC Championship and NCAA Regional titles. Glaser has totaled 36 tournament titles all-time leading the Gators – 37 total as she was an assistant coach for a season in 2011-12. 

STRONG REGULAR SEASON

Behind an underclassmen lineup, Florida captured five team titles this regular season along with freshman Jessica Guiser winning the Gators Invitational becoming the second UF freshman to earn medalist honors at the home event.

Redshirt-freshman Addison Klonowski was a consistent presence in her first collegiate season, leading in stroke average at 72.2 and finishing top-25 in all eight regular season events and 10 rounds under par.

The sophomore duo of Archer and Francisco also had strong regular seasons, combining for 6 top-10s and 11 top-25s. Francisco had a stroke average of 72.4 and Archer 72.7.

Freshman Elaine Widjaja played in seven events with four top-10s, tied for team-best with six top–25s and stroke average of 73.0

FALL RECAP

Florida closed out the first leg of the season with back-to-back victories, including defending its team title at The Ally. The Gators shot a final round of 6-under to end 15-under for a six shot victory over host Mississippi State. The victory is also the 33rd all-time under head coach Emily Glaser; 34th total as she was an assistant coach for a season in 2011-12. 

Redshirt-freshman Addison Klonowski led UF with a stroke average of 71.0 and finished T18 or better in all three stroke play events. She also had a team-high six rounds and two tournaments under par. 

Seven Gators had a T20 finish or better in the fall season with freshman Elaine Widjaja and Klonowski finishing top-25 in all three three stroke play tournaments. 

BIG 3, YEAR 2

The true freshmen trio of Inès Archer, Paula Francisco and Sophie Stevens all put together strong seasons to begin their collegiate careers. 

All earned SEC Freshman Golfer of the Week honors as Archer earned a spot on the All-SEC Freshman Team. Florida’s freshman trio totaled 23 (out of 55) appearances in the lineup, including both postseason events (SEC Championship & NCAA Regionals) where the group combined for 15 rounds played with Archer posting a team-best finish of T20 at SECs. They also totaled seven top-10s and 13 top-25s finishes.

NEW FACES IN THE ORANGE & BLUE

The Gators welcomed four five new Gators in Jessica Guiser (Hartland, Wis.), Elaine Widjaja (Semarang, Indonesia), Isa Wu (Hong Kong) and Siuue Wu (Hong Kong) along with assistant coach Ashley Sease.

A SEASON AGO

The 2023-24 season, the Gators highlighted the beginning of the season with three consecutive tournament victories to end the fall season. Florida started the stretch off with a six-shot win at the Glass City Invitational, eight-shot victory in the Tar Heel Invitational and capped off by an 11-shot win in the fall finale, The Ally. 

The three wins brought it to 31 tournament wins all-time under head coach Emily Glaser; 32nd total as she was an assistant coach for a season in 2011-12. Florida last won three events in a season in 2015-16 and is the fifth occurrence under Glaser. It marks the most team titles since the 2019-20 season when the Gators last won by double-digits at the Allstate Sugar Bowl by 13.

As a team, the Gators placed top-7 in all nine regular-season tournaments with three wins, seven top-5 and six top-3 finishes. UF also ended with a 2-1 match play record with ranked victories over No. 20 Pepperdine (4-1) and No. 4 UCLA (3-2) at the Therese Hession Regional Challenge.