Nov. 4, 2008
REUNION, Fla. - Taking on top-seeded UCLA, the No. 12-ranked Auburn women's golf team settled for sixth place Tuesday at the Hooters Collegiate Match Play Championship, falling 4-1 to the Bruins in the fifth-place match.
Conducted by the National Golf Coaches Association, the Hooters Collegiate Match Play Championship was a three-day tournament pitting 16 of the top college women's golf teams against each other in a combination stroke play/match play format. Sunday's 36-hole qualifier seeded the teams for the match play portion with the top eight teams going to the championship bracket and the bottom eight going to the consolation.
The tournament was played at the Ginn Reunion Resort, using nine holes from the Independence Course and nine holes from the Legacy Course - the same layout used for the LPGA's Ginn Open.
Taking on UCLA, who won the stroke play portion of the tournament to earn the top seed in match play, Auburn fell behind early in three of the matches, putting the Tigers in hole they could not overcome.
"We played a very tough team today in UCLA and played them close," said Auburn head coach Kim Evans. "They were able to make the shots at the right times to win some holes, especially some late in the matches, and that put us in a tough spot."
Auburn's lone win came from Junior Candace Schepperle, who went 2-0-1 in the match play portion of the tournament. Schepperle won two of the first three holes of the match against stroke play medalist Stephanie Kono, eventually taking a four-hole lead en route to the 3 and 2 victory.
In the No. 3 seed match, UCLA's Tiffany Joh won the three of the first four holes against Auburn's Patricia Sanz, but Sanz was not out of it as she brought the match back to all square on the 11th hole of the match. Joh responded by winning back-to-back holes and followed up with a win on No. 17 to take the 3 and 1 victory.
Auburn's Mariana Macias and Madison Overbey played similar matches in the fourth and fifth seeds, respectively. Macias lost the first hole to Sydnee Michaels, brought it back to all square, but fell behind as Michaels won four of the next five holes en route to a 5 and 3 win.
Overbey also lost the first hole and eventually brought her match against Brianna Do back to all square, but Do picked up three wins before clinching the match on the 16th hole with a 4 and 2 victory.
Auburn's final loss came on the last hole of the match between Auburn's Cydney Clanton and UCLA's Maria Jose Uribe. The match stood all square through six of the first eight holes with Clanton taking a two-hole lead after winning the ninth and tenth holes of the match. She lost the 13th hole, but held the lead until Uribe put the match back to all square on the 17th hole. A Uribe birdie on the 18th hole was all it took then as she took the 1-up win.
"I'm very proud of our team and how we played this week," said Evans. "The teams in this tournament are some of the very best teams in the country and definitely ones that we will see again later on down the road, so this was definitely a good experience for our team."
The Hooters Collegiate Match Play Championship concludes the fall season for the Tigers. The Auburn women's golf team will return to action Feb. 16-17 at the Central District Invitational at the River Wilderness Country Club in Parrish, Fla.
REUNION, Fla. - Third-round match play results from the Hooters Collegiate Match Play Championship hosted by the National Golf Coaches Association at the Ginn Reunion Resort's Independence and Legacy Courses. Par: 72. Yardage: 6,245
Third Round (Fifth-place Match): UCLA def. Auburn, 4-1
Candace Schepperle (Auburn) def. Stephanie Kono (UCLA), 3 and 2
Maria Jose Uribe (UCLA) def. Cydney Clanton (Auburn), 1 up
Tiffany Joh (UCLA) def. Patricia Sanz (Auburn), 3 and 1
Sydnee Michaels (UCLA) def. Mariana Macias (Auburn), 5 and 3
Briana Do (UCLA) def. Madison Overbey (Auburn), 4 and 2