AUBURN, Ala. – From the day the Auburn women's golf team bowed out of last year's NCAA Championship, there was one goal. Sure, the roster changed. There were new challenges and new adversity to overcome. But all the hard work, the early mornings, the workouts, the good days, the bad days – it was all about earning a return trip to nationals.
That goal became a reality when the Tigers finished fifth in the NCAA Regional, and on Friday, they will tee off at the Blessings Golf Club (Par 73, 6,473 yards) in Fayetteville, Arkansas for the first round of the NCAA Championship.
"Now it's just about doing it for each other," Auburn head coach Melissa Luellen said. "They really need each other. This being an individual sport, sometimes you can kind of forget that part of it. That's what so special about team golf. They need each other. Each other has helped them get to where they are right now."
This will be Auburn's 18th appearance in the NCAA Championship and second under Luellen, who made 14 appearances at Tulsa and Arizona State before taking over at Auburn.
The Tigers will use a similar lineup to the one used at regionals with a trio of sophomores – Julie McCarthy, Mychael O'Berry and Kaleigh Telfer – at the top. McCarthy, the No. 1 player, has been solid throughout the season and is currently ranked No. 10 nationally per Golfstat.
The only change to the lineup will be moving junior Elena Hualde Zúñiga up to the fourth slot and dropping freshman Brooke Sansom back to fifth. Hualde Zúñiga has saved her best golf for the end of the season, and thanks to two rounds under par, the Spain native led Auburn and finished tied for 8th overall at the NCAA Regional.
The Tigers are also brining junior Kayley Marschke to Fayetteville as an alternate.
The task now for this Auburn team will be to raise their level and play their best golf, something they did at times in both the NCAA Regional and the SEC Championship.
"Our film shows that we can raise our level," Luellen said. "We certainly did at the regional, and to me, that's the hardest tournament of the year. So now it's kind of like icing on the cake. We all have a lot to be proud of and nothing to protect, and I feel like all five are actually playing pretty well right now. It's just getting used to the golf course.
"Our goal is to get to the top eight and have an opportunity to win the championship. If you get to the top eight, you have a chance to win."
The field at this year's NCAA Championship consists of 24 teams and includes 18 of the top 20 teams in the country per Golfstat. The top 15 teams after the first three rounds of stroke play will advance to a fourth round of stroke play Monday, and then the top eight teams following Monday's round will move on to match play beginning Tuesday.
For Friday's first round, Auburn will tee off from the first hole at 1:01 p.m. CT and will play in the same group as Arkansas and Florida. Live scoring is available on Golfstat.com.