April 5, 2018
| 2017-18 Auburn Women's Golf | Event #9 | Bryan National Collegiate | |
| Dates | Friday, April 6-Sunday, April 8 |
| Location | Bryan Park Champions Course (Par 72; 6,386 yards) | Browns Summit, N.C. |
| Hosts | Wake Forest & UNCG |
| Format | 54-hole medal play; four individual scores count toward team total |
| Field | Auburn, Charlotte, Clemson, Colorado State, Furman, Georgetown, Kentucky, Miami, Michigan, North Carolina, NC State, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Tennessee, UCF, UNCG, Virginia, Wake Forest |
| Online | Live Scoring | Twitter: @AuburnWGolf | Auburn Season Stats |
| AU Tee Times | Friday: 7:30 a.m. CT (shotgun; 36 holes) Saturday/Sunday: TBD |
| Auburn's Lineup | |
| Elena Hualde Sophomore Pamplona, Spain (1) | Kelli Murphy Senior Elgin, S.C. (2) | Kayley Marschke Sophomore Suwanee, Ga. (3) | Julie McCarthy Freshman Swords, Ireland (4) | Mychael O'Berry Freshman Hoover, Ala. (5) |
AUBURN, Ala. -- The No. 22 Auburn women's golf team plays its final regular-season event this weekend, traveling to the Greensboro, N.C., area for the Bryan National Collegiate, which begins Friday.
A cool, breezy weekend awaits the 18 teams at the Bryan Park Champions Course (par 72, 6,386 yards) with rain in the forecast for Saturday and overnight lows near freezing. As a result, the teams will play 36 holes Friday - with forecast highs in the low 70s - and attempt to play 18 holes either Saturday or Sunday, depending on the weather.
"It's a very good golf course, a very hard golf course," Auburn head coach Melissa Luellen said. "It's by the water, and (the last time I was there) it was cold and windy. And I think the forecast for this week is cold and windy. They've already rescheduled the event so we'll play 36 holes Friday. We'll maybe play Saturday or Sunday, but they're trying to get 54 holes in.
The Tigers shook up their lineup for the final regular-season tune-up before postseason play. The top two spots are familiar with sophomore Elena Hualde and senior Kelli Murphy leading the way. Sophomore Kayley Marschke, coming off a great final round and 12th-place finish at the Evans Derby Experience, is in the No. 3 position. Freshmen Julie McCarthy and Mychael O'Berry round out the lineup.
Competitive qualifying rounds have given Luellen tough decisions to make on setting her lineup this spring - a good problem to have, according to the third-year Auburn coach.
"Our lineup is a little different," Luellen said. "The two spots that are secure right now for the SEC Championship are Elena and Kelli. So we've got four or five players that are battling for those last three spots. They're making my decisions very difficult, which is a good thing. I don't think in all my years of coaching that I've had this much depth as far as competitiveness to make it tough to choose a top five."
McCarthy - a native of Ireland - will be playing in her fifth collegiate event after enrolling at Auburn in January. And having grown up playing links golf where inclement weather is the norm, she's more than ready for this weekend.
"It's been great so far. I've been loving every minute of getting to practice here, working with the coaches and all my teammates," McCarthy said. "I know this weekend is going to be beside a lake, so it's going to be windy and the weather's not too good. But we got a good bit of practice (with the weather) in Ireland, so we'll see what happens."
A total of 18 teams will make up the field at Bryan Park, with six top-25 squads and 11 total teams ranked in the nation's top 50. No. 7 Furman leads the way, along with No. 9 South Carolina, No. 18 Miami, No. 21 Wake Forest, the 22nd-ranked Tigers and No. 24 North Carolina. Virginia, Clemson, NC State, Notre Dame and Tennessee round out teams ranked in the top 50. The rest of the field includes Charlotte, Colorado State, Georgetown, Kentucky, Michigan, UCF and UNCG.
Live scoring will be available at golfstat.com. For the latest on Auburn women's golf, follow @AuburnWGolf on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.