May 6, 2018
| 2017-18 Auburn Women's Golf | Event #11 | NCAA Austin Regional | |
| Dates | Monday, May 7-Wednesday, May 9 |
| Location | University of Texas Golf Club (Par 72, 6,341 yards) | Austin, Texas |
| Format | 54-hole stroke play; four individual scores count toward team total |
| Field | Auburn, Arkansas, Texas, Michigan State, Florida, Oklahoma, Houston, Miami, Baylor, Texas A&M, BYU, East Carolina, Texas Tech, Virginia Tech, UTSA, Georgetown, Houston Baptist, Missouri State |
| Online | Live Scoring | Twitter: @AuburnWGolf | Auburn Season Stats | Tournament Notes |
| AU Tee Times | Monday: 8 a.m. CT (#1 tee) Tuesday-Wednesday: TBD |
| Auburn's Lineup | |
| Kaleigh Telfer Freshman Kyalami, South Africa (1) | Michaela Owen Senior Suwanee, Ga. (2) | Kelli Murphy Senior Elgin, S.C. (3) | Elena Hualde Sophomore Pamplona, Spain (4) | Kayley Marschke Sophomore Suwanee, Ga. (5) |
AUSTIN, Texas -- The postseason gets underway Monday morning for the No. 19 Auburn women's golf team when they tee off in the NCAA Austin Regional, which runs through Wednesday at the University of Texas Golf Club.
The Tigers will begin their first round of play at 8 a.m. CT on the 10th tee, paired with Florida and Oklahoma for the opening 18 holes on the par 72, 6,341-yard UT Golf Club layout.
"It's another golf tournament," Auburn head coach Melissa Luellen said, "and we have to be very cognizant of the things that we do well to play well. We can borrow from the last day of medal play at the SEC Championship, where our focus was to hit fairways, hit greens and control your emotions. I think that will be the theme we take to Austin. I feel like if we follow our mental game plan and our physical game plan, with nine holes left (in the final round) I think we can have a chance to win the tournament. I don't want to just try to finish top-six."
After a top-10 finish in her first SEC Championship, freshman Kaleigh Telfer will claim the top spot in the Auburn lineup for the first time this season. Telfer tied for ninth at last month's conference tournament in Birmingham, finishing at 2-over for the week in extremely difficult scoring conditions for her best finish of her freshman year so far.
The rest of the Auburn lineup is no stranger to the NCAA Regional as all four competed last season at the tournament in Athens, Ga. Seniors Michaela Owen and Kelli Murphy hold down the second and third spots, and sophomores Elena Hualde and Kayley Marschke round out the Tigers' lineup.
Murphy will be making her third appearance in the postseason; she's the only Tiger left from Auburn's 2015 team that competed in the San Antonio Regional. She enters the week looking to etch her name into the Auburn record books; she currently ranks eighth in program history in career scoring average (74.68) and 10th in single-season average (73.33). Owen could join Murphy with a strong showing this week; she currently rates 10th in career average (74.94) and leads the team with a 73.24 average over 21 competitive rounds this season.
Hualde was Auburn's top finisher at the 2017 Athens Regional, tying for 19th place at 4-over. And Marschke has the Tigers' top two individual finishes this season - a victory at the Lake Oconee Individual Championship in February and a tie for fifth at the Bryan National Collegiate last month.
This will be Auburn's 24th all-time NCAA Regional appearance and the 22nd in the last 23 years. The Tigers have won one regional title, in 2005.
Seven of the nation's top 25 teams as ranked by Golfstat will be competing in Austin. Arkansas leads the way at No. 3, followed by host and No. 8 Texas, No. 11 Michigan State, No. 14 Florida, No. 19 Auburn, No. 21 Oklahoma and No. 25 Houston. Six other top-50 teams are in the field: No. 30 Miami, No. 35 Baylor, No. 38 Texas A&M, 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.
The top six teams after 54 holes of play will advance to the NCAA Championships, which begin May 18 in Stillwater, Okla.
Live scoring will be available at golfstat.com, and fans can follow @AuburnWGolf on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for live updates throughout the week from Austin.