AUBURN, Ala. – No. 20 Auburn will kick off the spring portion of its schedule on Sunday at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic at Grand Reserve Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. The 54-hole event will be played Sunday through Tuesday.
“We’re getting used to the grass, the sand and the speed of the greens,” said Auburn head coach Melissa Luellen. “One thing about Puerto Rico is that the greens are very slow and our greens in Auburn are very fast right now. Our players are going to feel like they have to hammer it, even on a 15-foot putt. We want to stay out of the architect’s monsters that they put in your head by having a good game plan.”
The Tigers will look to continue their momentum from the fall, when they did not finish lower than fourth in four tournaments. The team claimed victory at the Cougar Classic in September with an 847 (-5).
Sophomore Anna Davis, who is currently the No. 9 amateur in the world according to the World Amateur Golf Ranking, had one of the most dominant performances of any player in the nation during the fall portion of the Tigers’ schedule. Davis finished within the top three individually in all four of the team’s fall tournaments and was named SEC Player of the Week twice.
At the Illini Invitational at Medinah, Davis carded the lowest 54-hole score in program history (203) and claimed the individual title. Davis is one of 25 golfers who appeared on the Final Fall ANNIKA Award Watch List in November.
There will be some familiarity with Grand Reserve Golf Club, as Auburn also started the spring portion of its schedule at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic last season. The Tigers finished the event with a 54-hole total of 856 (-8) at Grande Reserve Golf Club for a third-place finish. The team concluded the event just two strokes behind champion Arkansas.
Auburn will be joined by 17 other teams in the tournament’s field, including six teams inside the Scoreboard top 25: No. 2 Arkansas, No. 9 Northwestern, No. 15 Vanderbilt, No. 16 LSU, No. 19 Ole Miss, No. 22 Michigan State.
Sunday’s opening round will be a shotgun start at 7 a.m. CT. Auburn will be paired with players from Ole Miss, Purdue and Michigan State on holes No. 4 through No. 7. Live scoring of the tournament will be available online at golfstat.com.
Auburn lineup:
- Anna Davis- 7 a.m. CT (No. 4 tee)
- Balma Dávalos Guaita- 9 a.m. CT (No. 5 tee)
- Casey Weidenfeld- 9 a.m. CT (No. 5 tee)
- Katie Cranston- 9 a.m. CT (No. 6 tee)
- Carys Worby- 9 a.m. CT (No. 7 tee)
Individual- Rachel Gourley- 9 a.m. CT (No. 18 tee)