May 24, 2007
Daytona Beach, Fla. - The Auburn women's golf team continued to climb the leader board at the NCAA Championship on Thursday as the Tigers moved to 12th after shooting 12-over 300 at the Par 72, 6,351-yard LPGA International Course.
"We had another strong start today," head coach Kim Evans said. "We have slowly moved up the team standings but the groups ahead of us have really turned in solid scores. We will come in for our final round tomorrow and hopefully conclude the tournament well."
For the day, the Tigers carded a 12-over 300 en route to a three-day score of 49-over, 309-304-300--913. The score moved Auburn into 12th place with one day remaining in the championship.
The Tigers started the day off well on the front nine, going 7-over behind even par's from Nicole Hage and Margaret Shirley. Shirley maintained this momentum through the back nine as she counted just one bogey on the day. After the bogey on 11, Shirley shot five straight even par's and a birdie on 17 to finish the day at even par and lead her team.
Candace Schepperle, along with Shirley ((77-76-72--225), lead Auburn in the individual standings as both are currently tied for 18th. After a strong front nine, C. Schepperle finished on a high with birdie's on 16 and another off a long put on 18. She finished the day at 2-over 74 (79-72-74--225), after counting a bogey on six and a triple on 14.
Hage, Marisa Milligan and Abigale Schepperle all carded 5-over 77 in the third round. Milligan sits in a tie for 54th (75-79-77--231), while Hage is tied for 63rd (78-77-77--232). A. Schepperle is tied for 96th (82-80-77--239).
Leading the pack is Duke, who fired a 5-over in the third round for a three-day total of 16-over, 300-287-293--880. Following the Blue Devils is Purdue in second at 24-over (303-294-291--888); UCLA in third at 29-over (303-291-299--893); and Georgia (303-299-300--902) is fourth at 38-over. Purdue's Christel Boeljon remains the leader in the individual race at 6-under for the three rounds (72-69-69--210).
The Tigers conclude the final round of the NCAA Championship Friday at 12:30 p.m. ET. Auburn will tee off of hole one with Louisville and Wake Forest. Live scoring is available on www.golfstat.com and daily recaps on www.auburntigers.com. The Golf Channel will air the championship on July 5 at 7 p.m. ET.