BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The weather made its presence felt on the golf course Friday, but it wasn't enough to deter the No. 14 Auburn women's golf team. The Tigers finished stroke play in a tie for fifth, and for the second straight year, they will move on to match play Saturday at the SEC Championship.
"It was really difficult," Auburn head coach Melissa Luellen said. "Windy, rain off and on, hard to choose clubs, hard to figure out which direction the wind was blowing. It was a very mentally and physically tiring day. Probably more tiring mentally today.
"I felt confident that we'd play fine and move on to match play, but you just never know with golf. We had some crazy things happen yesterday, and you just never know. And so I'm just glad that we have players that are competitive and grind it out. I'm proud of them for fighting. I know their scores weren't the best, but they fought hard out there. And for that, I'm very proud."
Sophomore Kaleigh Telfer continued her strong play with a 73 (+1) on Friday that included a run of four straight birdies on the front nine. It's the second time this week that Telfer has made four birdies in a row. She now has 11 birdies for the tournament and is tied for 10th on the player leaderboard.
"Honestly, after the third one I said to myself, 'Let's try to do it again,'" Telfer said. "I had to play it safe on the fifth hole because the pin was really tight to the water, and then I had a 20-foot putt for birdie and made it. It's for sure a confidence thing. Once I started making a few putts on the first few holes, I started getting into a groove and made more putts."
Fellow sophomores Mychael O'Berry and Julie McCarthy also finished stroke play in the top 30 individually. O'Berry tied for 16th overall after firing a 2-over 74 on Friday, and McCarthy dropped back into a tie for 29th following a round of 78 (+6) on the third day.
Florida finished first in the stroke play portion at 1-under par (863) followed by South Carolina (865), Arkansas (868), Vanderbilt (877), Georgia (882), Auburn (882), Mississippi State (891), Ole Miss (892), LSU (896), Tennessee (897), Alabama (898), Missouri (900), Texas A&M (904) and Kentucky (910).
That means that Auburn (6) will face Arkansas (3) in the first round of match play Saturday. The first pair will tee off from the 10th hole at 7 a.m. CT. Live scoring can be found on Golfstat.com.
"Now it's just a new game," Telfer said. "I think we're all very confident and ready to go."
Team Standings
1. Florida -- 863 (-1)
2. South Carolina -- 865 (+1)
3. Arkansas -- 868 (+4)
4. Vanderbilt -- 877 (+13)
T5. Georgia -- 882 (+18)
T5. Auburn -- 882 (+18)
7. Mississippi State -- 891 (+27)
8. Ole Miss -- 892 (+28)
9. LSU -- 896 (+32)
10. Tennessee -- 897 (+33)
11. Alabama -- 898 (+34)
12. Missouri -- 900 (+36)
13. Texas A&M -- 904 (+40)
14. Kentucky -- 910 (+46)
Auburn Individuals
T10. Kaleigh Telfer – 71, 73, 73 (+1)
T16. Mychael O'Berry – 75, 71, 74 (+4)
T29. Julie McCarthy – 68, 77, 78 (+7)
T36. Elena Hualde Zúñiga – 70, 77, 78 (+9)
60. Brooke Sansom – 79, 78, 75 (+16)