Sept. 5, 2016
| 2016-17 Auburn Women's Golf - Fall Kickoff | |
| Dates | Tuesday, Sept. 6 |
| Location | Berkeley Hills Country Club | Duluth, Ga. |
| Host | Louisville |
| Format | 36-hole medal play; four individual scores count toward team total |
| Field | Auburn, Augusta, College of Charleston, Georgia, Georgia State, Louisville, Vanderbilt |
Online Live Scoring | Twitter: @AuburnWGolf -->AU Tee Times8 a.m. CT shotgun start
| Auburn's Lineup | |
| Michaela Owen Junior Suwanee, Ga. (1) | Kayley Marschke Freshman Suwanee, Ga. (2) | Kelli Murphy Junior Elgin, S.C. (3) | Elena Hualde Freshman Pamplona, Spain (4) | Mai Dechathipat Sophomore Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla. (5) |
| Clara Baena Senior Madrid, Spain (Individual) | Maria Donado Sophomore Bogota, Colombia (Individual) |
AUBURN, Ala. -- The 41st season of Auburn women's golf begins Tuesday as the Tigers travel to Duluth, Ga., for the Fall Kickoff. The one-day, 36-hole event will be played at Berkeley Hills Country Club.
Auburn will be competing along with Augusta University, College of Charleston, Georgia, Georgia State, Louisville and Vanderbilt. Louisville is serving as tournament host.
Seven of the nine players on the Auburn roster will compete. Junior Michaela Owen, freshman Kayley Marschke, junior Kelli Murphy, freshman Elena Hualde and sophomore Mai Dechathipat will be the Tigers' starting five, and senior Clara Baena and sophomore Maria Donado will compete as individuals.
Owen returns as the Tigers' top performer from a season ago when she led the team with a 75.64 scoring average, a full three-stroke improvement over her freshman season. She also posted Auburn's best individual finish of the season, a tie for fourth place in the stroke-play portion of the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic. Murphy had a 76.88 average last season, second-best among returning players, and is Auburn's active career leader in scoring average (75.72 over two seasons). Murphy was strong in the Tigers' season-opener last season, tying for 17th at the Cougar Classic.
Dechathipat played in six events last season - three as part of the starting lineup - and earned a tie for 15th at the Lady Bulldog Individual Tournament for her best showing of her freshman year. Marschke and Hualde will both be making their collegiate debuts.
Baena enters her senior season with a career average of 76.23 and has one tournament victory to her credit as she won the season-opening "Mo" Morial as a sophomore in 2014-15. Donado is making her first appearance in a team event; her one appearance last season came in the Lady Bulldog Individual Tournament.
Live scoring will not be available. A full recap will follow the event at AuburnTigers.com.