AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 14 Auburn women's golf team caught fire during the second round of the NCAA Auburn Regional on Tuesday with 11 birdies on the front nine. The Tigers eventually cooled off on the back nine to finish the day at 2 over par, but they still moved up two spots into a tie for sixth on the leaderboard.
The top six teams following Wednesday's third round will advance to the NCAA Championships.
"Obviously better today," Auburn head coach Melissa Luellen said. "We made more birdies on the first five holes than we did all day yesterday, so that was good to see. It was good to see some putts drop and to know that they can make birdies, it just breeds confidence.
"We talked about when you have a scoring club in your hand, I want them to be very aggressive. Yesterday, they probably took the right targets. They just made careful swings, tentative swings. So I'm just trying to get them a little bit more assertive because that's more their style of play. If we can just keep the conservative targets and aggressive swings, we'll be just fine."
The low round of the day for Auburn came from Elena Hualde Zúñiga, who fired a 1-under 71 with four birdies. The junior, who shot a 75 in the first round, is now 2 over for the tournament and tied for 18th overall among the individuals.
"I'm really happy with my ball striking," Hualde Zúñiga said. "Today it was a lot better than yesterday. I hit 15 greens, which made a big difference with my score. It was a little easier to play out there."
Sophomore Kaleigh Telfer and Brooke Sansom both finished Tuesday's round at even par, and the duo is now in a tie for 23rd overall at 3 over through two rounds. Sansom knocked in four birdies on the day while Telfer added three, all on the front nine.
Sophomores Julie McCarthy and Mychael O'Berry are tied for 51st on the player leaderboard at 7 over. McCarthy carded a 75 (+3) with two birdies on her final four holes.
Duke leads the 18-team field at 1 over (577) and is followed by Virginia (579), Florida State (580), Vanderbilt (580), East Carolina (586), Auburn (589), Tennessee (589), Maryland (591), Furman (593), Houston (599), Alabama (603), California (604), Clemson (605), Denver (608), Murray State (610). Kennesaw State (610), South Alabama (610) and Albany (613).
Auburn will play with Vanderbilt and East Carolina on Wednesday to close out the tournament. The group will tee off from Hole 1 at 9 a.m. CT. Live scoring can be found on Golfstat.com.
Team Standings
1. Duke -- 577 (+1)
2. Virginia -- 579 (+3)
3. Florida State -- 580 (+4)
4. Vanderbilt -- 580 (+4)
5. East Carolina -- 586 (+10)
T6. Auburn -- 589 (+13)
T6. Tennessee -- 589 (+13)
8. Maryland -- 591 (+15)
9. Furman -- 593 (+17)
10. Houston -- 599 (+23)
11. Alabama -- 603 (+27)
12. California -- 604 (+28)
13. Clemson -- 605 (+29)
14. Denver -- 608 (+32)
T15. Murray State -- 610 (+34)
T15. Kennesaw State -- 610 (+34)
T15. South Alabama -- 610 (+34)
18. Albany -- 613 (+37)
Auburn Individuals
T18. Elena Hualde Zúñiga – 75, 71 (+2)
T23. Kaleigh Telfer – 75, 72 (+3)
T23. Brooke Sansom – 75, 72 (+3)
T51. Julie McCarthy – 76, 75 (+7)
T51. Mychael O'Berry – 74, 77 (+7)