May 23, 2008
Albuquerque, N.M. - The No. 10 Auburn women's golf team concluded play at the NCAA Championship, firing 14-over 302 to tie for 12th. Freshman Cydney Clanton led the Tigers, shooting 1-under71 to finish tied for 23rd.
Southern Cal took the team title by six strokes over UCLA. The Trojans shot 1-over 289 today (284-300-295-289--1168). UCLA fired 22-over for the tournament (289-295-298-292--1174), while Duke took third at 28-over (299-300-300-281--1180). Auburn finished at 63-over for the week (289-315-309-302--1215).
"It was a tough week for us," head coach Kim Evans said. "We started out very strong the first day, but dropped off on the second day. We fought our way back up to the top 15 the last two days. Cydney had a good final round today and Margaret finished her collegiate career strong this evening."
Clanton opened with a birdie on 10 and went even par the remaining eight holes on the back nine. She bogeyed on two, but rebounded with back-to-back birdies on three and four to move to 2-under. Clanton finished out the day with a bogey on seven to shoot 1-under 71 for the day. Clanton shot 9-over 297 for the tournament (74-75-77-71--297).
Senior Margaret Shirley concluded her collegiate career tied for 63rd. Shirley fired 4-over 76 today and 17-over 305 for the week (71-80-78-76--305). Shirley finished the back nine at 3-over, but moved to 2-over with a birdie on one. Bogeys on four and five put her at 4-over where she stayed the rest of the way.
Junior Mariana Macias shot 5-over 77 and finished tied for 96th. Macias finished 27-over 315 for her first NCAA Championship (76-82-80-77--315). Macias had bogeys on 12, 14 and 17 to finish the back nine at 3-over. Back-to-back bogeys on four and five to finish out play put her at 5-over.
Sophomore Candace Schepperle shot 6-over in the final round to finish tied for 75th. She shot 20-over 308 for the tournament (69-82-79-78--308). Schepperle birdied on 11, but doubled on 13 and had bogeys on four of the last five holes on the back stretch to finish the back nine at 5-over. Another double on three put her at 7-over but she rebounded with a birdie on six.
Freshman Sarah Thead concluded her first NCAA Tournament tied for 75th. She fired 8-over 80 and 20-over 308 for the week (75-78-75-80--308). Thead bogeyed on 10, birdied 11 and bogeyed 12. Consecutive bogeys on 15 and 16 put her at 3-over after the back stretch. She had bogeys on five on the nine holes on the front to finish at 8-over.