Oct. 11, 2009
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The third-ranked Auburn women's golf team earned a second-place finish at the 34th annual Tar Heel Invitational after carding a 2-over 290 final round, giving the team a tournament-total 8-over-par 872. The Tigers were led by Cydney Clanton, who took a fifth place finish individually.
Hosted by the University of North Carolina, the Tar Heel Invitational is a 54-hole tournament being played at the par-72, 6,285 yard UNC Finley Golf Course. The three-day event features nine teams within the GolfWorld top-25 and four teams in the top-15.
After making a jump to third place in the second round of play, the Tigers entered the final 18 holes behind eventual champion Michigan State and Alabama. Auburn, with the 2-over performance, overcame the Tide, but was unable to catch Michigan State, which shot a 4-over 292 final round and finished at 4-under-par.
"Looking back, Michigan State played unbelievably and my hat goes off to them," head coach Kim Evans stated.
"But I'm really proud of our girls today. We started poorly and dropped a few positions, but they played a strong back nine. We had a lot of girls step up for us today and you can't ask for more than that. Patricia (Sanz) had a great final 15 holes and she really played well for us today. Also, Cydney and Candace (Schepperle) are continuing to play such great golf and lead this team and I'm very proud of them for that."
Auburn's 2-over 290 performance was the second best round of the day, only one shot behind Texas A&M.
Leading the Tigers in the final round and for the weekend was Clanton. The junior shot a 1-under 71 for the day to solidify a fifth place finish for the 54-hole tournament. Clanton came out finding two bogeys within the first three holes, but rebounded with birdies on Nos. 4, 7 and 17 to cap the weekend with a tournament-total 2-under-par 214.
"Cydney's fifth place finish wasn't her best of the year," Evans said, "but she's really playing like a true All-American and I'm extremely proud of her for that."
Auburn's biggest performance of the weekend perhaps came from freshman Carlie Yadloczky, who shot an even-par 72 in the final round and a tournament-total 2-over-par 218 to give herself a tie for 11th. Yadloczky, despite bogeying No. 6 and double-bogeying No. 17, still emerged with three birdies to cap a great weekend.
"Carlie has the ability to go really low, but she's also still learning her way through college golf," Evans noted. "She's such an explosive player and has the ability to make a lot of birdies. Right now, she's got to learn these types of golf courses. I couldn't be more proud of the way that she played this weekend."
Senior Candace Schepperle tied for sixth place as she carded a 1-over 73 on the final 18 holes. Schepperle was at even-par until hitting a bogey on the 16th. She finished the weekend at even-par 216 to tie for sixth place, her best finish of the season thus far.
The Tigers' fourth contributing round came from Patricia Sanz's 2-over 74. Sanz took three bogeys on the front nine, but was able to collect one birdie on No. 16 to bring her to a tournament-total 8-over-par 224. Sanz finished in a tie for 42nd.
Auburn sophomore Haley Wilson carded a 9-over 81 in the final round to end the weekend at 15-over-par 231 and tied for 68th.
Michigan State took the title with a 4-under 860. Following Auburn, in-state rival Alabama took third place with its 11-over-par 875 weekend finish. Texas A&M and Vanderbilt finished tied for fourth place as both teams logged 16-over 880s to end the tournament.
The Tigers will have two weeks off before returning to the links for competition, Oct. 23-25, for the NCAA Fall Preview in Wilmington, North Carolina.
"We're looking forward to the NCAA Fall Preview and seeing where our national championship is going to be," Evans said. "We're going to get home and get caught up with everything and try to work on what we need to in order to improve."
The 54-hole tournament will take place at the Country Club of Landfall.
TEAM SCORING
1 - Michigan State - 285-283-292--860 (-4)
2 - Auburn - 296-286-290--872 (+8)
3 - Alabama - 290-289-296--875 (+11)
T4 - Texas A&M - 304-287-289--880 (+16)
T4 - Vanderbilt - 298-284-298--880 (+16)
6 - Tennessee - 291-297-293--881 (+17)
7 - Duke - 299-289-295--883 (+19)
8 - Virginia - 292-292-300--884 (+20)
9 - Wake Forest - 293-291-301--885 (+21)
10 - Louisville - 304-285-298--887 (+23)
11 - North Carolina - 296-296-298--890 (+26)
12 - Denver - 302-300-290--892 (+28)
13 - South Carolina - 295-296-302--893 (+29)
14 - Florida State - 294-297-207--898 (+34)
15 - North Carolina State - 301-293-306--900 (+36)
16 - North Carolina Wilmington - 310-291-302--903 (+39)
17 - Kent State - 306-293-306--905 (+41)
18 - East Carolina - 316-311-319--946 (+82)
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
5 - Cydney Clanton - 73-70-71--214 (-2)
T6 - Candace Schepperle - 71-72-73--216 (E)
T11 - Carlie Yadloczky - 76-70-72--218 (+2)
T42 - Patricia Sanz - 76-74-74--224 (+8)
T68 - Haley Wilson - 76-74-81--231 (+15)