Sept. 25, 2009
FRANKLIN, Tenn. - Senior Candace Schepperle birdied four of her final five holes Friday in the first round of the Mason Rudolph Championship, placing herself and the eighth-ranked Auburn women's golf team in a tie for first place. The Tigers finished the first 18 holes tied for first with Southern California at 10-under-par 278 while Schepperle ended the day in a tie for the individual lead at 6-under-par 66.
Auburn and Southern California's 10-under 278s set a new tournament record for first-round score, beating out a 280 carded by Arizona State in 2007 and Georgia in 2006. The scores were also only one stroke off the single-round total, ranking behind a 277 posed by UCLA in 2008.
Hosted by Vanderbilt, the Mason Rudolph Championship is a 54-hole tournament being played at the par-72, 6,271-yard Vanderbilt Legends Club North Course. The three-day tournament features eight teams ranked in the GolfWorld top-10 and 13 ranked in the top-25.
After tallying eight birdies on the round, Schepperle tied her career-best score with a 6-under 66. She finished the day tied for first place with Southern California's Jennifer Song. Finishing just one stroke behind Schepperle was junior Cydney Clanton, who used two eagles on the day to finish at 5-under 67, taking third place overall.
"I'm pretty excited. Cydney and Candace showed up big time for us today," said Auburn head coach Kim Evans. "We had some big birdies from a lot of people and had some big plays, it was a good team effort."
As a team, Auburn combined for three eagles and 17 birdies on the round. Two of the eagles belong to Clanton, but the third came from freshman Carlie Yadloczky as she used it and three birdies to overcome a quad and double-bogey to finish with a 2-over-par 74.
Clanton's first eagle came on the par-4 No. 2 as she hit a 9-iron from 140 yards out. Her second, on the par-5 No. 7, came from about 200 yards out as she used a 3-iron on her third shot.
Schepperle made her moves by closing out each side of the golf course. Even-par after six holes, Schepperle birdied Nos. 7-9 to go to the back nine at 3-under. Following a bogey on No. 11, she stepped up again to close out the round by carding birdies on four of the last five holes to finish the day at 6-under-par 66. "Candace got comfortable," said Evans. "She is starting to get real comfortable with her game again, doing everything right. She is excited about her senior year and she looked as good as I have ever seen her."
Rounding out the Auburn lineup were sophomores Haley Wilson in a tie for 36th at even-par 73 and Patricia Sanz in a tie for 45th at 1-over 73. Yadloczky finished up the day in a tie for 57th after rebounding for a 2-over-par 74.
Also playing in this weekend's tournament is senior Karlin Beck, who is competing as an individual. Beck carded a 3-over-par 75 to finish in a tie for 72nd.
Heading into Saturday's second round, Auburn and Southern California hold a two-stroke lead over Alabama and Arizona State. Duke rounds out the top five at 5-under-par 283.
With 36 holes remaining against the top teams in the country, Evans knows her team still has a long way to go.
"We are in it for the fight of our life," said Evans. "There is a big chance of rain tomorrow, but we have to be able to go out and recreate our round again. Anything can happen, we are going to have to be equally ready tomorrow and get after it,"
The Tigers will go off in the final group of the day on the No. 1 tee, playing with in-state rival Alabama and Southern California. Tee times begin at 9:30 a.m. and run through 10:06 a.m.
Fans can follow along with live stats of the tournament at www.GolfStat.com.
FRANKLIN, Tenn. -- First-round results from the Mason Rudolph Championship hosted by Vanderbilt University at VU Legends Club North Course. Par: 72. Yardage: 6,271.
TEAM SCORING
T1 - Auburn - 278 (-10)
T1 - Southern California - 278 (-10)
T3 - Alabama - 280 (-8)
T3 - Arizona State - 280 (-8)
5 - Duke - 283 (-5)
6 - UCLA - 284 (-4)
T7 - Georgia - 285 (-3)
T7 - Oklahoma State - 285 (-3)
T7 - Vanderbilt - 285 (-3)
T10 - LSU - 286 (-2)
T10 - Arizona - 286 (-2)
12 - Stanford - 287 (-1)
13 - Texas - 290 (+2)
T14 - Virginia - 292 (+4)
T14 - Florida - 292 (+4)
16 - Tulane - 296 (+8)
17 - South Carolina - 300 (+12)
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
T1 - Candace Schepperle - 66 (-6)
3 - Cydney Clanton - 67 (-5)
T36 - Haley Wilson - 72 (E)
T45 - Patricia Sanz - 73 (+1)
T57 - Carlie Yadloczky - 74 (+2)
**T72 - Karlin Beck - 75 (+3)
** - Competing as an individual