BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Auburn women's golf made history Wednesday, shooting a 279 (-9) in the first round of the SEC Championship to break the program record low 18-hole round at the conference championship, previously set in 2002 (280).
Seniors Elena Hualde Zuniga and Kaleigh Telfer both fired a 69 (-3) to lead the Tigers, but it was a team effort as four of the five players in the lineup finished under par for the round.
Auburn is currently tied for fourth following a day in which 11 of the 14 SEC teams shot under par at Greystone Golf and Country Club.
"I think our team knows we're at our championship with the best conference in the country," Auburn head coach Melissa Luellen said. "They've played all year waiting for this, and it's time to bring your 'A' game. It's going to take an entire team effort to perform well here.
"We started pretty solid and what I was really happy about is we had a rain delay for about an hour, and to come back after the rain delay and play under par was pretty awesome. Elena (Hualde Zúñiga) kind of caught on fire. Megan (Schofill) made a couple birdies. It was really good that they came back after the rain delay and continued to put the pedal down."
After the rain delay, Hualde Zúñiga responded with three straight birdies and four birdies over a span of five holes on the back nine. She made a team-high six birdies on the day. Telfer made all three of her birdies on the front nine and was the only Auburn player not to make bogey. At 3-under, the duo is in a tie for 16th on the player leaderboard.
Schofill and Mychael O'Berry are also in the top 30 through the first round. O'Berry is tied for 25th after shooting a 2-under 70 on Wednesday while Schofill finished at 71 (-1) and is currently in a tie for 30th. They combined to make six birdies.
The Tigers got four birdies from Julie McCarthy as well. The senior carded a 73 (+1) and finished the round tied for 44th overall.
LSU and South Carolina share the first-round lead at 16-under par (272). Following three rounds of stroke play, the top eight teams will move on to match play Saturday. There are currently nine teams at 7-under or better heading into the second day.
Auburn will tee off at 8:50 a.m. CT again on Thursday and will be paired with Ole Miss and Florida for the second round. Live scoring can be found on Golfstat.com.
Team Standings
T1. LSU – 272 (-16)
T1. South Carolina – 272 (-16)
3. Mississippi State – 275 (-13)
T4. Auburn – 279 (-9)
T4. Ole Miss – 279 (-9)
T4. Florida – 279 (-9)
T4. Arkansas – 279 (-9)
8. Alabama – 280 (-8)
9. Vanderbilt – 281 (-7)
10. Tennessee – 286 (-2)
11. Kentucky – 287 (-1)
12. Georgia – 290 (+2)
13. Texas A&M – 291 (+3)
14. Missouri – 293 (+5)
Auburn Individuals
T16. Elena Hualde Zúñiga – 69 (-3)
T16. Kaleigh Telfer – 69 (-3)
T25. Mychael O'Berry – 70 (-2)
T30. Megan Schofill – 71 (-1)
T44. Julie McCarthy – 73 (+1)
Auburn opens SEC Championship with record performance
