Florida Women's Golfer Yadloczky Compiling a Season to Remember

GAINESVILLE, Fla., Feb. 20, 2008 - The pace that she’s on is mind-boggling. A better scoring average than LPGA professional Sandra Gal as a freshman? The answer is yes. Better numbers than Duramed FUTURES Tour veteran Andrea Vander Lende in her first year? Yes again. Better than Riko Higashio as a rookie in the college ranks? Yes.

Ranked No. 21 in the country in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin individual rankings, University of Florida freshman women’s golfer Jessica Yadloczky of Casselberry, Fla, has been a catalyst behind fifth-ranked Florida’s success on the links. As a result, she has emerged as one of the frontrunners for SEC Newcomer of the Year honors, as well as NGCA Freshman All-American status. Yadlockzky played as an amateur member of the Duramed FUTURES Tour last summer.

Ironically, her top competition for SEC accolades comes from one of her closest friends, Auburn University rookie Cydney Clanton. The pair have known each other since they were 15 years old and have competed in amateur tournaments together. The friendly rivalry is sure to set up some memorable moments in close years to come.

Anxiously awaiting her shot to participate in her first competitive tournament on her home course with this week’s SunTrust Lady Gator Invitational, Yadloczky has put together a remarkable season through five events this year. Her scoring average of 73.13 is tops among Florida freshmen since the program began tracking in the 1993-94 season according to Golfstat records. This record comes after playing the treacherous slopes and knee-buckling greens at the Palos Verdes Golf Club where head Florida coach Jill Briles-Hinton called it a U.S. Open-style golf course.

“Jessica is one tough bird, mentally tough,” Briles-Hinton said at Monday’s all-sports press conference. “She knows what she needs to do. She knows what she doesn’t know and goes and gets it done.”

Yadloczky’s approach to the game makes it tough on the competition to get a read on her even though they know her name will be near the top of the leaderboard. She makes it clear in what her preparation for this weekend’s SunTrust Lady Gator Invitational is for.

“This week I’ve been preparing to win,” Yadloczky said on the practice range. “I’d really like that because it’s been a long time since I’ve had a win anywhere. I’m coming out with my own sights and goals for golf and play the best I can without making mistakes.”

Yadloczky’s mettle and poise on the course is evidence of a live streak of five consecutive top-20 finishes. She says that phone conferences with her mental coach Debra Graham from Texas have allowed her to drop nearly five strokes from her game.

“I strongly believe 70 percent of my game is mental,” Yadloczky said. “She (Debra) is really good friends with Coach Briles and I’ve known her for a year. Developing a mental edge has changed my game 360 degrees. We get to see each other once a year.”

Her ultimate goal is get to the LPGA Tour and she soaked in valuable experience this past year as a member of the Duramed FUTURES Tour.

She laughs at the seemingly long 50-member guest list she has accumulated for the UCF Challenge at the Red Tail Country Club in March, but as long as she keeps playing like this, the number of spectators will only continue to grow.

Florida Freshman Scoring Averages Since 1993-94

73.13 – Jessica Yadloczky (2007-08)

74.72 – Aimee Cho (2002-03)

74.88 – Jeane Marie-Busuttil (1994-95)

75.03 – Tiffany Chudy (2002-03)

75.43 – Sandra Gal (2004-05)

75.44 – Riko Higashio (1995-96)

75.55 – Sara Beautell (1996-97)

75.68 – Andrea Vander Lende (2001-02)

75.76 – Paula Marti (1999-00)

76.35 – Whitney Myers (2004-05)

77.09 – Jeanne Cho (1999-00)

Story courtesy of the University of Florida Sports Information office; SID Contact: Ben Schlesselman (352) 375-4683 Ext. 6131