MELBOURNE, Fla. – No. 21 Women’s golf completed the opening round of the Moon Golf Invitational on Sunday with a 296 (+8) team score on a windy day at Suntree Country Club in Melbourne, Florida. Freshman Balma Dávalos finished the day in a tie for third place on the individual leaderboard.
“Theme of the day was wind!” Auburn head coach Melissa Luellen said after the round. “Tough to get super committed with 30 mph gusts. Have to be very disciplined to not get greedy in tough conditions and realize that the middle of the green is a good play with any club. Very proud of Balma (Dávalos) and Katie (Cranston)’s play as they looked in control and made assertive swings.”
Dávalos followed up her impressive finish at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic with another round under par on Sunday. The freshman’s round was highlighted by back-to-back birdies on No. 3 and No. 4 at Suntree Country Club, which helped her card a round of 1-under (71). Dávalos is just one stroke behind the two tournament leaders at 2-under.
Back ✌️ back birdies for Balma Dávalos 🐤🐤
— Auburn Women's Golf (@AuburnWGolf) February 16, 2025
She’s now 1️⃣⬇️ for the day #WarEagle pic.twitter.com/NnLjeAASZm
Junior Katie Cranston stayed steady in her first round, making par on 15 holes. Cranston fired a 73 on Sunday (-1) and is in a tie for 20th place individually. Sophomore Anna Davis ran into some trouble on the back nine at Suntree Country Club with three bogeys before making a birdie on the par-3 No. 17. Davis shot a 3-over 75 and finished the round in a tie for 40th place.
The Tigers’ final counting score came from freshman Anne Fernandez, who played in her first tournament as a part of the team lineup on Sunday. Fernandez recorded two birdies in her opening round of 5-over (77).
As a team, Auburn is in a four-way tie for seventh place with No. 4 South Carolina, No. 9 Northwestern and Louisville. The Tigers are 10 strokes behind the 18-hole leader, No. 7 Florida State.
On Monday, Auburn’s team participants will tee off the first tee starting at 7 a.m. CT with players from Louisville and Northwestern. Live scoring of the tournament will be available online at scoreboard.clippd.com.
Auburn individuals:
|
Placement |
Player |
Round 1 Score |
|
T3 |
Balma Dávalos |
71 (-1) |
|
T20 |
73 (+1) |
|
|
T40 |
75 (+3) |
|
|
T47 |
Carys Worby (I) |
76 (+4) |
|
T62 |
77 (+5) |
|
|
T71 |
Rachel Gourley (I) |
78 (+6) |
|
83 |
80 (+8) |