Razorback women's golf rallies late

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Results

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A late rally in the final round lifted the University of Arkansas women’s golf team to a tie for sixth place in the Gator SunTrust Invitational in Gainesville, Fla., Sunday.

The Razorbacks fired a final round 289 finishing with an 885 (297-299-289) and tying No. 4 Auburn and No. 49 South Florida.

Razorback sophomore Emily Tubert went low for Arkansas shooting a two-under 68 to tie for fourth place overall with 210 (72-70-68).  Tubert made the turn even and shot two-under on the back nine.

Freshman Hally Leadbetter dropped seven strokes off of Saturday’s number shooting a 72 in the final round.  Leadbetter tied for 35th overall with a 224 (73-79-72).

Sophomore Emma Lavy was 47th overall shooting 228 (74-75-79), followed by junior Victoria Vela who tied for 55th with a 231 (78-75-78).  Sophomore Emily Podzielinski rounded out the Arkansas scoring in a tie for 60th.  She finished with a 232 (78-83-71) carding a one-over 71 for the second-best score on the day for Arkansas.

“It was a better day today,” Arkansas head coach Shauna Estes-Taylor.  “Obviously Emily’s 68 is a fantastic round but I think even more impressive was the rounds of Hally and Pods.  It was tremendous.  To play great college golf, you have to ham and egg it very well and they did that today when some other players were struggling.  I’m really proud of them to stay in it an allow us to move up the leaderboard.”

Host No. 23 Florida came from behind to win the tournament shooting a 24-over 864.  Second-ranked Alabama was second with 865, followed by No. 34 Florida State with 872, No. 10 Georgia with 877 and No. 11 Duke with 882.  Just three strokes back was No. 43 Arkansas, No. 4 Auburn and No. 49 South Florida in a tie for sixth followed by No. 14 Baylor with 886 and No. 38 Ole Miss with an 891 to round out the top 10.

The Razorbacks return to the course April 30-March 1 at the Liz Murphey Invitational.

“We were in a little bit of a hole heading into the last round but we finished strong and that is something to build on,” Estes-Taylor said.  “We are not playing our best golf yet but as a coach you want to play your best at the end of the season so that gives us a lot of excitement as we move forward.”