AUBURN, Ala. – There have been 10 tournaments, 25 rounds of golf and countless more hours spent on the course this season in preparation of the postseason. This week, that journey begins for the No. 14 Auburn women's golf team with the NCAA Auburn Regional from Saugahatchee Country Club.
Beginning Monday, 18 teams will compete. Following Wednesday's third round, only six will advance to the NCAA Championship in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
"There's no tournament that's like regionals," Auburn head coach Melissa Luellen said. "A lot of coaches don't get much sleep at night, especially the coaches that have been through it year after year after year. It's just a different type of feeling. Your season either continues on to your team's goal or your season ends.
"Our team is excited to play. They're excited to be finished with finals. I feel like they've done a great job in preparation with the challenge of having finals."
The Tigers are confident coming off a strong performance in the SEC Championship where they lost in the semifinals of match play. Going back to last October, this Auburn team has finished first or second in four different tournaments, including victories in the Battle at the Beach and the Shootout at Shoal Creek.
"I think it's just all about belief now," sophomore Kaleigh Telfer said. "We've seen how it worked last semester and at the SEC Championship. We just have to believe in ourselves to get the job done. I think we've got a very good team going into regionals, and I think we can win."
Telfer led the way at the SEC Championship with a 10th-place finish during stroke play. She will slide into the lineup into the third spot behind fellow sophomores Julie McCarthy and Mychael O'Berry, who will both be making their NCAA Regional debuts.
McCarthy, however, is currently ranked No. 6 nationally per Golfstat and won her first individual title last month with a win at the Clemson Invitational.
Following those three will be freshman Brooke Sansom in the fourth spot and then junior Elena Hualde Zúñiga rounding out the lineup. Hualde Zúñiga has finished tied for 19th in each of the last two regionals and was Auburn's top finisher two years ago in the Athens Regional.
This year, for only the third time in program history, the Tigers will have the advantage of hosting a regional.
"Just the fact that we didn't have to get on a plane," Luellen said. "That our practice round was great because we don't have to learn a new golf course. The fact that we know we're not going to get lost. We know our way around town. There are just so many stressors that happen when you're on the road that we don't have to deal with."
Auburn is the No. 4 seed in its own regional. The rest of the 18-team field includes seven teams ranked in the top 30 with No. 3 Duke and No. 6 Vanderbilt as the top two seeds. The No. 3 seed, Florida State, won the Evans Derby Experience at Saugahatchee Country Club in March.
The Tigers will be paired with Virginia and Furman for Monday's round and will tee off at 8 a.m. CT from the 10th hole. Live scoring is available on Golfstat.com.