GAINESVILLE, Fla.---Chattanooga senior Emma de Groot (Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia) finished tied for third at the SunTrust Gator Women's Golf Invitational at Mark Bostick Golf Course at UF.  de Groot carded a level par 70 in final round for a six-over par total of 216.

The tie for third is the third consecutive top five for de Groot and the 18th in her illustrious career.  It is the 22nd top 10 in 41 events in her three-plus years.

"Emma played well," said head coach Colette Murray.  "But I don't think we could've played any worse as a team.  If we would've played for 54 holes the way we did for the first 12 and last seven, we'd have won the tournament.  But we didn't."

The Mocs tied for sixth as a team with No. 11 Iowa State and Coastal Carolina.  Today's 300 gave UTC a 54-hole total of 901as the Mocs made up five strokes on the Cylcones and Chanticleers.

Florida won its event at 865 (+25).  The Gators topped Florida State (883) by 18 shots and Ohio State (895) in third by 30.

FSU's Hannah Thomson's even-par 210 won medalist honors with rounds of 69, 72 and 69.  Vicky Villanueva (OSU) was second at 212 (+2), while de Groot paced a quartet of golfers at 216 (+6).

Freshman Marion Duvernay (Publier, France) finished tied for 25th in her first event as a counter at 227.  The mid-season enrollee earned a spot in the lineup with her play at the Kinderlou Forest Challenge.  Senior Christine Wolf (Igls, Austria) was third for the Mocs tying for 35th at 229. 

Junior Maria Juliana Loza (Burcarmanga, Colombia) and freshman Yushira Budhram (Johannesburg, South Africa) rounded out the team scoring tying for 62nd at 236.  Loza had the second lowest round of the day for Chattanooga behind de Groot at 74 (+4). Freshman Jordan Britt (Dayton, Tenn.) wound up tied for 67th at 238.

Murray added, "We know we when we need to knuckle down and get it done, we can.  We just need to do that from the start."

The Mocs return to Florida later this week for the JMU/Eagle Landing Invitational at Eagle Landing Golf Club outside Jacksonville.  The 54-hole event starts Friday, March 11 and ends Sunday, March 13.  Live scoring can be followed at GoMocs.com.

LEADERBOARD

*Playing as an individual

NOTES:

• The Mocs played with Ohio State and Georgia State... Trailed the Buckeyes by four and beat CCU by 5.
• Chattanooga ws one of two SoCon teams in the field with UNC Greensboro...The Mocs are 9-0 against SoCon competition this season...Beat the Spartans by 39 strokes...Averaging 35.9 strokes per win over SoCon schools.
• Front Nine (Counters by Round): +35 (+14/+14/+7)...de Groot was +3 for the week, E today.
• Back Nine: +26 (+3/10/+13)...de Groot was level today, +3 for the week.
• de Groot has now shot or tied for the Mocs' low round in nine of 20 this season...70 (E) is 4th par or better round of the season, 29th career...40 pars led the tourney.
• Wolf had the drop score...Had counted in 41 straight rounds coming in to today.
• Loza had a team-high three birdies...All came in her final eight holes...4th round this season with three or more birds.
• Eagles (Counters by Rounds): 1 (1/0/0). Duvernay 1 (1/0/0).
• Birdies (Counters by Rounds): 11 (7/4/7). Duvernay 6 (3/2/1), de Groot 4 (2/0/2), Loza 4 (0/1/3), Wolf 3 (1/1/1), Budhram 2 (1/0/1), Britt 2 (1/0/1).
• Pars (Counters by Rounds): 85 (41/44/-).de Groot 40 (11/15/14), Wolf 33 (13/11/9), Britt 30 (13/6/11), Duvernay 29 (8/10/11), Budhram 28 (9/9/10), Loza 23 (6/8/9).