May 20, 2008
Albuquerque, N.M. - The No. 10 Auburn women's golf team opened play at the NCAA Championship Tuesday at the par 72, 6,424-yard University of New Mexico Championship Course. The Tigers shot 1-over 289 and are tied with No. 3 ULCA for second. Two Tigers fired rounds under par and are in the top 10.
Auburn turned in its lowest round today since carding 288 on the final day of the Margaret Moses Branch Fall Preview last September, which coincidentally was at the UNM Course. The Tigers and Bruins are a mere five strokes off the leader, No. 2 Southern Cal, who shot 4-under 284. The Tigers led for most of the afternoon, after going 1-under on the back nine.
"I am pleased with our overall performance today," head coach Kim Evans said. "We led the field for most of the day, which is a good sign for the days to come. Candace really put it all together today and it was nice to see her do that. I thought Margaret stepped up and her experience at the championship really showed. I saw some good things today and I look for use this momentum to carry us the rest of the way."
Sophomore Candace Schepperle was dominant start to finish as she carded her lowest 18-hole score since the opening round of the Mason Rudolph Championship on Sept. 14 of last year. Schepperle finished at 3-under 69, tying her career best, and is in a five-way tie for second.
Schepperle completed the back nine 4-under after registering birdies on 10, 13, 14 and 18. Her first bogey of the day came on two, but she rebounded with consecutive birdies on four and five to improve to 5-under. She stumbled on six and seven, but went even the rest of the way to finish at 3-under.
Firing 1-under 71, senior Margaret Shirley is tied for ninth. Shirley carded birdies on 11 and 18 and only one bogey on the back nine. Shirley moved to even par with a bogey on one, but went to 2-under with consecutive birdies on five and six. A bogey on seven put her at 1-under, where she remained the rest of the way.
One of three Tigers competing in their first NCAA Championship, freshman Cydney Clanton fired 2-over 74. Clanton finished the back nine 1-over after shooting two birdies and three bogeys. A bogey on two put her at 2-over, but she moved to 1-over with a birdie on five. A final bogey on eight moved her back to 2-over and she shot even on the last hole. Clanton is tied for 44th.
Freshman Sarah Thead went even through the back nine after trading bogey and birdie's from 14 to 17. She registered three bogeys on the front nine and went even the final five holes to finish at 3-over 75. Thead is tied for 53rd.
Junior Mariana Macias opened with a birdie on 10 before triple bogeying on 11. She pulled back to 1-over with a birdie on 15, but bogeys on 16 and 17 put her at 3-over for the back nine. Macias returned to 4-over with a bogey on one, but registered a birdie on three to move back to 3-over. Back-to-back bogeys on seven and eight put her at 5-over, but she finished with a birdie on nine to stay at 4-over 76 for the day. Macias is tied for 68th.
Wake Forest's Nannette Hill tied for the course record after shooting 5-under 67 and leads the 126-person field. No. 4 Arizona State (290) is one stroke behind Auburn and UCLA, while No. 9 Denver and No. 14 Wake Forest round out the top-five (293).
Auburn will tee off of #1 Wednesday at 8:50 a.m. MT with TCU and Arizona. Tiger fans can follow the Tigers live on www.golfstat.com.