Nov. 6, 2005
AUBURN - The Auburn women's golf team produced a momentous comeback fighting from 10 shots down to claim the title at The Derby Invitational Sunday afternoon at the par 72, 6,270-yard Auburn University Club. Auburn senior Maria Martinez easily claimed medalist honors as she carded a tournament-record 7-under 209 in the three day event.
The seventh-ranked Tigers found themselves down 10 shots at the turn and fought back for the one stroke victory. Auburn finished the tournament with a 15-over (291-302-286--879) while top-ranked Duke finished at 16-over (294-294-292--880). Georgia carded a 28-over (294-305-293--892) for third place, Virginia finished fourth with a 29-over (297-306-290--893) and Tennessee fired a 30-over (297-297-300--894) to round out the top five.
"It's an important win," Auburn head coach Kim Evans said. "It is the end of the season and it gives us a boost of confidence going into the spring season. We were hosting, and you always feel you should win at home. Whenever you are hosting, you have so many expectations and you want to win big."
The Martinez victory was never in doubt as she finished nine strokes ahead of Tennessee's Nicole Smith (75-71-72--218) and Alabama's Jenny Suh (75-79-73--218), who both finished at 2-over. Martinez's three-day score of 69-72-68--209 is the lowest in the 10-year history of the tournament.
"I played really well today," Martinez said. "I hit 18 greens and all the fairways and played very solid. At the beginning, I started a little slow but then the putts started to fall in and I kept it going. We had a really good game today, and I feel that we did what needed to be done to come up with the win."
Martinez's 4-under 68 on the day was followed up by sophomore Margaret Shirley, who shot a 3-under 69 in the final round. For the tournament, Abigale Schepperle tied for eighth with a 5-over (72-75-74--221), Shirley tied for 21st at 10-over (75-82-69--226), Nicole Hage tied for 37th with a 13-over (75-79-75--229) and Jessica Lovell tied for 53rd with a 17-over (81-76-76--233). As an individual, freshman Mariana Macias finished the tournament in 64th at 75-85-78--238.
"Maria's four under really packed a punch and Margaret (Shirley) shot three under," Evans said. "This is another big win for Maria and she has led this team. Margaret had a big event and shot three under for us. We were able to come in under par today with those two playing so well."
Auburn wrapped up its fall season with the Derby Invitational with a record of 55-8-0. The Tigers will again be in action Feb. 20 at the Wildcat Invitational in Tucson, Ariz.
TEAM SCORING
1 Auburn 291 302 286 879 +15
2 Duke 294 294 292 880 +16
3 Georgia 294 305 293 892 +28
4 Virginia 297 306 290 893 +29
5 Tennessee 297 297 300 894 +30
6 Florida 302 302 302 906 +42
T7 South Carolina 301 310 298 909 +45
T7 Oklahoma State 316 302 291 909 +45
9 Alabama 310 300 302 912 +48
10 LSU 308 310 299 917 +53 11 Florida State 303 318 298 919 +55
12 NC State 315 307 302 924 +60
13 Texas 308 307 314 929 +65
14 Mississippi 300 320 314 934 +70
15 UNC Wilmington 320 310 315 945 +81
16 Kansas 317 319 311 947 +83
17 West Florida 329 327 327 983 +119