AUBURN, Ala. – It's been less than two weeks since the Auburn women's golf team opened the season with a 10th-place finish at the Cougar Classic. It wasn't the start the Tigers were hoping for, given that they want to be considered among the elite this year, but the good news is that they can bounce back, beginning this weekend at the Mason Rudolph Championship.
"After our finish in Charleston, nobody was very happy with it," Auburn head coach Melissa Luellen said. "I think the focus and really being specific on what we want to accomplish at this tournament has been on everyone's mind every day."
"We got off to a rocky start last week," added junior Kaleigh Telfer. "We've had a lot of discussions on team bonding and doing it for the team. That is the key going into this week. We have to believe that we can do it in order to get on the same level as last fall."
The Mason Rudolph Championship, which runs Friday to Sunday, will take place in Franklin, Tennessee, at the Vanderbilt Legends Club (Par 72, 6,430 yards) – a course Auburn is much more familiar with. The Tigers have placed top five at the event in each of the past two seasons, and this will be their 13th appearance all time.
Last year, Telfer finished tied for 15th on the player leaderboard after shooting a 70 (-2) in the first round followed by a 73 (+1) in round two. The third round was cancelled due to weather.
"I remember that it was pouring rain and it got cancelled, but I do love the course," Telfer said. "It has nice scenery and lots of water, so it's a nice golf course. It always helps to have more knowledge than you did the year before, so I definitely have an advantage."
Telfer will take the No. 1 spot in the lineup for Auburn this weekend. She'll be followed by freshman Megan Schofill, who made her collegiate debut in the Cougar Classic. The final three spots will go to Brooke Sansom, Mychael O'Berry and Elena Hualde Zúñiga in that order.
Nine of the 15 teams in this year's field are ranked in the top 50, including three in the top 15 – Vanderbilt (11), Auburn (13) and Northwestern (15).
The Tigers will be paired with Northwestern and UCF for the first round and will tee off from the first hole at 9:20 a.m. CT. Live scoring can be found on Golfstat.com.