March 2, 2017
| 2016-17 Auburn Women's Golf - Darius Rucker Intercollegiate | |
| Dates | Friday-Sunday, March 3-5 |
| Location | Long Cove Club (Par 71, 6,160 yards) | Hilton Head Island, S.C. |
| Format | 54-hole medal play; four individual scores count toward team total |
| Field | Auburn, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona State, Baylor, Duke, Furman, Georgia, LSU, Mississippi State, North Carolina, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Wake Forest |
| Online | Live Scoring | Twitter: @AuburnWGolf | Auburn Season Stats |
| Tee Times | Friday: 8:20 a.m. CT, No. 10 tee (paired with Furman, LSU) Saturday/Sunday: TBD |
| Auburn's Lineup | |
| Elena Hualde Freshman Pamplona, Spain (1) | Michaela Owen Junior Suwanee, Ga. (2) | Mai Dechathipat Sophomore Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla. (3) | Kelli Murphy Junior Elgin, S.C. (4) | Kayley Marschke Freshman Suwanee, Ga. (5) |
Sophomore
Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.
(Individual)
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AUBURN, Ala. -- The Auburn women's golf team looks to keep up its strong play so far this spring when the Tigers travel to Hilton Head Island, S.C., for the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate. The tournament runs Friday-Sunday at Long Cove Club.
Auburn will play in its third team event of the spring this weekend after a solid performance at the UCF Challenge and a win in the Auburn-Tennessee Challenge last month. The Tigers played their first regular-season event at home in several years on Sunday, earning a six-stroke win over Tennessee in a 36-hole match at the Auburn University Club.
"It is the best field we will face all year long until the NCAA Championship," Auburn head coach Melissa Luellen said. "It's a special tournament, Darius Rucker actually does a private concert for the players, and you can't go wrong with Hilton Head.
"We played really well there for two days last year and stumbled in the third round. The team likes the course, which is good. I think playing on the hard golf courses here in Auburn, the great courses we can play, it does help us prepare for a difficult golf course. We're not afraid of a tough golf course."
The Tigers will send a lineup of freshmen Elena Hualde and Kayley Marschke, sophomore Mai Dechathipat and juniors Michaela Owen and Kelli Murphy to Hilton Head this week.
Hualde is the SEC Freshman of the Week after winning the Auburn-Tennessee Challenge at 4-under par 140 on Sunday at the Auburn University Club. For the spring season, all five of her tournament rounds have been at even par or better, and she is a combined 10-under through two events.
Dechathipat was the runner-up Sunday at the AU Club, posting her two best collegiate rounds with a 71-72 to finish 1-under par for the day.
A field that features 10 top-25 teams awaits the Tigers. Nine SEC programs will be competing, including Auburn, No. 5 Alabama, No. 7 Georgia, No. 11 South Carolina, No. 13 Arkansas, LSU, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Vanderbilt. Other ranked teams include No. 6 Furman, No. 8 Arizona State, No. 12 Wake Forest, No. 15 Oklahoma State, No. 19 Duke and No. 22 Baylor, and North Carolina and Virginia round out the field.
The Long Cove Club will be set up at par 71, 6,160 yards for the week. This is Auburn's fourth appearance in the event that began in 2012.
Auburn will be paired with Furman and LSU for the first round on the 10th tee, and tee times for the Tigers begin at 8:20 a.m. CT. Live scoring will be available at golfstatresults.com.