AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn sophomore Kaleigh Telfer will be part of history this week as she and 71 of the other top amateur players in the world will compete in the inaugural Augusta National Women's Amateur.
The first two rounds, beginning Wednesday, will be at the Champions Retreat Golf Club in nearby Evans, Georgia. From there, the top 30 players will advance to Saturday's final round played at the legendary Augusta National Golf Club, host of the Masters Tournament.
All 72 participants, including Telfer, will play a practice round at Augusta National on Friday.
"It's a reality now," Auburn head coach Melissa Leullen said. "I know that she's probably laid in bed at night thinking about it and the excitement and really what it means. Sometimes something is so far away and all of a sudden, it's right there in front of you. It's like 'Oh my gosh, this is really happening.' It's very exciting for her."
Though Telfer has struggled this spring, she climbed all the way into the top 15 nationally after an outstanding fall season. The sophomore won the individual title in the Battle at the Beach and finished third at the Alexa Stirling Women's Intercollegiate Invitational. Seven of her 10 rounds from the fall were par or better, including three rounds at 69.
Auburn associate head coach Andrew Pratt will join Telfer in Augusta this week and serve as her caddie for the tournament.
"I think it will be great that those two are going to be really close to each other on the golf course, really working together to try and help her," Luellen said. "They've been working hard the last couple days to try to get her form back to normal."
Telfer will tee off with the last group Wednesday at 10:12 a.m. CT.