AUBURN, Ala. – After opening with a victory at the Shootout at Shoal Creek last week, the No. 11 Auburn women's golf team is taking part in two separate tournaments this weekend.
The top five golfers, based on qualifying rounds, will travel to New Orleans to compete in the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate as a team. The tournament runs Sunday through Tuesday and will take place at English Turn Golf & Country Club (par 72; 6,239 yards). The field includes a total of nine Top 25 teams, including No. 1 USC, No. 3 Texas, No. 5 Duke and No. 8 Florida.
"This will be the first glimpse of the spring," Auburn head coach Melissa Luellen said. "Our next three tournaments have extremely strong fields. We know that they're great fields, but just really staying focused on what we're doing and what's helping us play better is really important. And not worrying about the expectations."
It will be a very similar lineup to what Auburn used last weekend with Elena Hualde Zúñiga in the top spot followed by sophomores Mychael O'Berry (No. 2) and Julie McCarthy (No. 3) and then freshman Brooke Sansom (No. 4), who won the individual title at the Shootout at Shoal Creek.
The only exception will be the return of sophomore Kaleigh Telfer, who missed the first tournament while recovering from a back injury. Telfer, the No. 18 player in the country, will slide into the fifth spot for the Tigers.
The other three golfers on the team -- Kayley Marschke, Anika Bolcíková and Chandler Rosholt – left Thursday for Georgia where they will compete as individuals in the Lake Oconee Collegiate Championship on Saturday and Sunday.
Marschke won the individual championship at the same event last year after shooting a career-low 68 (-4) in the only round of competition.
"To give the other three the chance to compete at the beginning of the spring semester is a great opportunity," Luellen said. "For example, last year Kayley Marschke won the Lake Oconee as an individual, and it really jumped her into the lineup for consideration.
"I look at competition as competition. Any time you have the opportunity to compete, throw some good scores up there and let the coach have a hard decision, it's a good thing."