Florida Women’s Golf Tee Off at SEC Finals

The Florida women’s golf team has made it to the SEC Championship Finals after outscoring Arkansas 3 – 2 in the quarterfinals match play round on Thursday. A pair of clutch putts from Addison Klonowski and Paula Francisco on hole 18 sealed the deal for UF. The Gators will face No. 1 seed South Carolina on Friday for the title.

The program has now reached the finals for the second time since the tournament format changed in 2018.  Florida’s last appearance was in 2022, where they fell 4 – 1 to LSU.

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Stroke Play

Florida entered the final round one stroke back of the match play cut line (top eight teams). With eight teams battling for the final five spots, Florida used a 6-under back nine to shoot 2-under in the round. They secured 7th place and advanced to the match play quarterfinals.

When Florida teed off the final round of stroke play, they were one shot behind Arkansas and Mississippi State, who held the final two match-play advancing spots at +7. Once all five Gators were on the course, they bounced in and out of 8th before jumping to a three-shot lead in 8th at the turn over Auburn and Alabama at +11.

After the turn, the Gators pulled away and never looked back, thanks to a strong start led by Inès Archer. She made birdie-eagle-birdie. Klonowski played exceptional, making back-to-back birdies on 11-12. Klonowski made five consecutive birdies, including six in a seven-hole stretch across holes 11 – 16 for a 5-under back nine. The redshirt-freshman improved from her opening round of 77 (+7) and second of 71 (+1) with a final round of 3-under 67. She climbed 21 spots and finish T37.

Match Play

Florida faced No. 2 seed LSU in the quarterfinals, sweeping them 5 – 0. Karoline Tuttle had UF’s best performance, taking down Aine Donegan for a score of 6&5.

The Gators moved on to the semis, where they had to face the No. 2 team in the country: The Arkansas Razorbacks.

Through the front nine, Florida led in three of the five matches. Tuttle, Archer, and Francisco were all 2Up. Arkansas quickly gained momentum on the course and took a 3 – 2 lead. Arkansas scored the first point of the match play, a 2&1 between Tuttle and Kendall Todd. The Razorbacks went up 2 – 0 after Maria Jose Marin won 3&2 over Guiser.

The Orange and Blue didn’t back down while Arkansas searched for its final point. Paula Francisco hit a long birdie putt on hole 18 to seal her match after being down two with five holes remaining. Then Archer tied the match 2 – 2 with a 2&1 win, a match she led for 15 of the 16 holes she played. Klonowski sealed the victory, paring on hole 18 to give Florida the 3 – 2 win over Arkansas.

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Final Match

Florida will play for its 10th SEC Conference Title, last winning in 2017 under head coach Emily Glaser. The final round began Friday at 10 a.m., with live coverage on SEC Network.