April 25, 2018
AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 19 Auburn women's golf team will make its 22nd postseason appearance in the last 23 years as the Tigers were selected to the NCAA Austin Regional, which will be played May 7-9 in Austin, Texas.
Auburn is seeded fifth in the Austin Regional and was one of 72 teams selected to the NCAA field, with 18 teams competing at each of four sites. The top six teams and three individuals from each regional will advance to the 2018 NCAA Championship, set for May 18-23 in Stillwater, Okla.
"We are excited to go to Austin," Auburn head coach Melissa Luellen said. "I have been to that course and it is very good. It's similar to Grand National. I like that we will be playing on Bermuda grass and similar greens. Our players are looking forward to the challenge of playing solid every day with a great opportunity to advance to Stillwater."
The tournament will take place at the University of Texas Golf Club. Auburn will be making its first trip to Austin since 2012, when the Tigers played in the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational. Two of Auburn's last three NCAA Regionals will have taken place in the state of Texas; the Tigers played in the San Antonio Regional in 2015.
Auburn enters the postseason ranked No. 19 overall by Golfstat and No. 24 by Golfweek. Joining the Tigers in Austin will be three other SEC foes – No. 3 Arkansas, No. 14 Florida and No. 38 Texas A&M. Other top-50 teams include host at No. 8 Texas, No. 11 Michigan State, No. 21 Oklahoma, No. 25 Houston, No. 30 Miami, No. 35 Baylor, No. 41 BYU, No. 48 East Carolina and No. 49 Texas Tech. Virginia Tech, UTSA, Georgetown, Houston Baptist and Missouri State round out the field.
This will be Auburn's 24th overall appearance in an NCAA Regional and second in three years under Luellen. The Tigers have advanced to the NCAA Championship 14 times, most recently in 2013.
2018 NCAA Austin Regional – Teams by Seed
1. Arkansas
2. Texas
3. Michigan State
4. Florida
5. Auburn
6. Oklahoma
7. Houston
8. Miami
9. Baylor
10. Texas A&M
11. BYU
12. East Carolina
13. Texas Tech
14. Virginia Tech
15. UTSA
16. Georgetown
17. Houston Baptist
18. Missouri State