Feb. 5, 2018
ORLANDO, Fla. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" The Auburn women's golf team improved by six strokes over its first-round score in the second round of the UCF Challenge Monday at Eagle Creek Golf Club.
Led by a 2-under-par 70 from freshman Kaleigh Telfer, the Tigers shot 293 (+5) Monday and are in seventh place after two rounds at 592 (+16). A few peculiar situations helped contribute to the Tigers' second-round score, according to head coach Melissa Luellen.
"Today we had some very interesting things happen," she said. "Elena (Hualde) hit out of a plugged lie in a bunker, and the ball came back and hit her for a stroke penalty. Then on No. 18, Julie (McCarthy) took her relief after hitting the ball into a hazard. When she went up to the green to evaluate her shot, she turned around and the ball had rolled back into the hazard for another penalty. So there were some really weird, unlucky things that happened today."
Telfer's 70 was one of just a handful of rounds under par through two days of play, moving her from a tie for 50th place up to a tie for 17th. She birdied two of her first four holes, then dropped back to even par with bogeys at the 11th and 15th holes. But birdies at 16 and 18 pushed her back to 2-under, and she made par on her last five holes. It marked her best collegiate round through four tournaments as a Tiger.
Senior Kelli Murphy remained in the top 10 after a round of 74 left her at 2-over through two rounds. She had one birdie and three bogeys on the day to head into Tuesday's final round tied for 10th place. Sophomore Kayley Marschke, playing as an individual, posted an even-par 72 to move up to a tie for 22nd; she had 16 straight pars and a birdie-bogey finish for her second-best round of the season.
Hualde, after her unlucky triple-bogey on the seventh hole, was 5-over through eight holes, but played her final 10 holes 4-under. She would eagle the par-5 13th, then make birdies at Nos. 2 and 4 ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" her 16th and 18th holes of the day ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" to finish the day at 1-over. McCarthy was also able to bounce back from her adventures at the 18th with four pars and a birdie to close out a 77 (+5). Freshman Mychael O'Berry carded a 76 (+4) as the Tigers' fourth counting score.
"I'm proud of Elena for fighting back from being 5-over to 1-over, which is just a great sign of character," Luellen said. "And after Julie made 9, she played her next five holes 1-under-par, so a lot of character shown from a young team."
Miami moved into the tournament lead with a 3-under-par 285 Monday; the Hurricanes are 4-over for the week, four shots ahead of Wisconsin. Miami's Dewi Weber and Central Florida's Kaeli Jones share the individual lead at 5-under.
Tuesday's final round gets underway at 7:45 a.m. CT with a shotgun start. Tee times, pairings and live scoring are available at golfstat.com.
Second-round results from the UCF Challenge, hosted by Central Florida at Eagle Creek Golf Club (par 72, 6,349 yards) in Orlando, Fla.:
Team Standings
1. Miami ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 580 (+4)
2. Wisconsin ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 584 (+8)
3. Iowa State -587 (+11)
T4. Central Florida ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 589 (+13)
T4. East Carolina ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 589 (+13)
T4. Vanderbilt ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 589 (+13)
7. Auburn ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 592 (+16)
T8. Memphis ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 594 (+18)
T8. SMU ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 594 (+18)
10. Mississippi State ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 597 (+21)
11. Penn State ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 598 (+22)
12. Texas Tech ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 599 (+23)
13. Old Dominion ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 602 (+26)
14. Tulane ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 605 (+29)
15. College of Charleston ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 609 (+33)
16. UNC Wilmington ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 610 (+34)
Auburn Individuals
T10. Kelli Murphy ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 72-74=146 (+2)
T17. Kaleigh Telfer ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 77-70=147 (+3)
*T22. Kayley Marschke ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 76-72=148 (+4)
T25. Elena Hualde ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 76-73=149 (+5)
T43. Mychael O'Berry ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 75-76=151 (+7)
T60. Julie McCarthy ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 76-77=153 (+9)
*Individual