Auburn’s Telfer, Schofill to play in Arnold Palmer Cup

Auburn’s Telfer, Schofill to play in Arnold Palmer CupAuburn’s Telfer, Schofill to play in Arnold Palmer Cup
Shanna Lockwood/AU Athletics

AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn's Kaleigh Telfer and Megan Schofill will take part in the 2020 Arnold Palmer Cup this week. The Ryder Cup-style event, beginning Monday, features the top men's and women's college golfers matching the United States against their International counterparts.

Originally scheduled to be played July 3-5 at Lahinch Golf Club in Lahinch, Ireland, the event was moved to December 21-23 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and will now be played at Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Florida – home of the inaugural Arnold Palmer Cup in 1997. 

"We look forward to welcoming the top men and women collegiate golfers to Bay Hill," said Amy Palmer Saunders. "My father would have wanted to find a way to honor their excellence in these unprecedented times and hosting the rescheduled Arnold Palmer Cup at Bay Hill will be a fitting way to do so."


For Telfer and Schofill, this will be their first time playing in the event. Auburn junior Julie McCarthy was a member of the International Team for the 2019 Arnold Palmer Cup and was selected by her peers afterwards to go on and compete in the Evian Championship, an LPGA event that summer. 

Telfer, a junior like McCarthy, will be playing competitively for the first time since October. The South Africa native was a WGCA First Team All-American and First Team All-SEC selection last year and will be playing for the International Team this week. 

Schofill will match up against Telfer as part of the United States Team. The second-year freshman is coming off an individual victory at the Liz Murphey Fall Collegiate Classic in November where she finished at 3-under par. Since arriving at Auburn in 2018, Schofill has a scoring average of 71.88

Both Telfer and Schofill made it to the Round of 16 at the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship in August. Telfer advanced to the quarterfinal round before bowing out. 

Since its inception, over 100 former Arnold Palmer Cup alumni have gone on to earn cards on either the PGA Tour, European Tour or LPGA, 29 have represented Europe or the USA in the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup, and more than 60 have claimed over 250 victories on the PGA or European Tours, including three major championships in 2020. The United States leads the series 12-10-1.

Players, coaches, and staff will be tested upon arrival and enter a bubble for the duration of the event. Daily COVID screening will also take place for all players, coaches, staff, and patrons entering the property at Bay Hill Club & Lodge.