Feb. 17, 2009
PARRISH, Fla. - All five Tigers finished in the top 30 as No. 10 Auburn held off the rest of the field for its first tournament win of the season, winning the Central District Invitational. Auburn carded a 15-over-par 303 in the final round to finish the two-day tournament at 18-over 882.
"We got it done today. I'm really proud and excited to get started with our season, take care of the things we set out to do and go forward," said Auburn head coach Kim Evans. "I felt like we were going to take this tournament from the beginning and I'm proud that we took it from wire-to-wire. It was not pretty at the end, but we got it done."
Hosted by Michigan State University, the Central District Invitational was a 54-hole tournament played at River Wilderness Country Club in Parrish, Fla. The par-72 course played at 6,099 yards.
The Tigers battled wind and cold weather on Tuesday, but held together at the end with a full-team effort to seal Auburn's first team victory since winning the 2007 Liz Murphey Classic.
"All of them played so well, it is pretty amazing how good they all look," said Evans. "Candace played a great tournament and was in it from start to end. We have good leadership and a lot of youth to make it exciting, they all stepped up and that's what was really nice."
Junior Candace Schepperle posted a final-round 75 to finish the tournament in second place with a 2-under-par 214. She finished one stroke behind individual champion Megan McChrystal of Duke. McChrystal carded a 3-uner 213, including a final-round 68, to take the lead and the victory.
Auburn led wire-to-wire in the 54-hole tournament, beating out six other top-25 teams and 10 teams ranked in the top 50 in the nation. LSU carded the low final round score of 8-over-par 296, cutting into Auburn's lead. The Bayou Bengals eventually finished three strokes behind Auburn with a 21-over 885 while Purdue was in third with a 24-over-par 888. Duke placed fourth with a 31-over 895 while host Michigan State rounded out the top five with a 39-over 903.
Individually for Auburn, all five Tigers placed in the top 30 with Schepperle pacing the way with her runner-up finish. Freshman Patricia Sanz finished second in the squad, posting an 82 in the final round to finish with an 8-over-par 224. Fellow freshman Haley Wilson also finished in the top 20 as she posted a 5-over 77 to finish the tournament with a 10-over-par 226.
Cydney Clanton finished two strokes behind Wilson, posting a final-round 77 to finish tied for 22nd with a 12-over 228. Senior Mariana Macias carded the low round of the day for Auburn, coming in with a 2-over 74 to finish tied for 29th with a 14-over 230.
Auburn returns to action March 8-10 at the Central Florida Challenge in Heathrow, Fla. The three-day tournament, hosted by UCF, will take place at the Red Tail Country Club.
PARRISH, Fla. -- Final results from the Central District Invitational hosted by Michigan State University at River Wilderness Country Club. Par: 72. Yardage: 6,099.
TEAM SCORING
1 - Auburn - 284-295-303--882 (+18)
2 - LSU - 292-297-296--885 (+21)
3 - Purdue - 305-286-297--888 (+24)
4 - Duke - 294-298-303--895 (+31)
5 - Michigan State - 304-297-302--903 (+39)
6 - Ohio State - 304-301-302--907 (+43)
7 - Texas Christian - 310-292-307--909 (+45)
8 - Kent State - 313-293-310--916 (+52)
9 - Oklahoma - 309-298-311--918 (+54)
10 - Texas - 315-304-306--925 (+61)
11 - South Carolina - 309-319-308--936 (+72)
12 - Iowa State - 315-302-326--943 (+79)
T13- Kansas - 319-306-321--946 (+82)
T13 - Missouri - 318-308-320--946 (+82)
15 - Michigan - 322-306-321--949 (+85)
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
2 - Candace Schepperle - 70-69--139 (-5)
T11 - Patricia Sanz - 72-70--142 (-2)
T19 - Haley Wilson - 70-79--149 (+5)
T22 - Cydney Clanton - 72-79--151 (+7)
T29 - Mariana Macias - 79-77--156 (+12)