CARLSBAD, Calif. – No. 6 Auburn women’s golf carded a round of 2-under 286 on Saturday during the second round of the NCAA Championship at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa Champions Course in Carlsbad, California. The Tigers improved by 16 strokes from round one and are currently tied for 20th place at 12-over for the championship. Stanford leads the tournament through 36 holes at 12-under.
“So proud of them for knowing what they had to do to try to move our way up the leaderboard,” Auburn head coach Melissa Luellen said about her team’s second-round performance. “From the very bottom, it’s not a place that we’re used to being in, but I think our character really came out today. We had great rounds from Carys (Worby) and Anna (Davis), and to see Balma (Dávalos) back out there playing again just warms my heart. She was super nervous the first couple of holes with expectations, but she’s been playing well and leaned on that. She hit a couple of just amazing and inspirational golf shots out there. So really, I think the day is about Balma.
“This team fights. I know Charlotte (Cantonis) had a rough back nine and Molly (Brown Davidson) had a rough front nine but a hot back nine. The theme of the day is just fighting. I’m proud of them. It could have been better, but it could have been worse and we’ve experienced that. So, looking forward to tomorrow.”
Auburn redshirt senior Carys Worby fired her sixth round under par this season on Saturday, carding a 3-under 69. After teeing off No. 10, Worby recorded birdies on the par-3 16th and par-5 18th holes to make the turn at 1-under. On her second nine, Worby picked up three birdies. The Auburn veteran moved up 75 spots on the individual leaderboard and is currently tied for 38th place at 1-over for the event.
Auburn junior Anna Davis also carded a 3-under 69 in round two, a seven-shot improvement from her opening round. Davis’ round featured five birdies, including a close approach on her final hole that set up one of them. The Auburn junior is 2-over through 36 holes and tied for 46th place on the individual leaderboard.
In her first competitive round since October, Auburn sophomore Balma Dávalos provided a counting score for the Tigers on Saturday, recording a 1-over 73 in her return. Dávalos bounced back from back-to-back bogeys to begin the round with birdies on Nos. 18, 6 and 9.
Molly Brown Davidson provided the final counting score of the day for Auburn with a 3-over 75. After a difficult opening nine that saw her make the turn at 4-over, Davidson played steady on her second nine, which included back-to-back birdies on Nos. 5 and 6.
Substitutions are allowed between rounds during the NCAA postseason, but Auburn will keep the same lineup for Sunday’s third round. Auburn will tee off in round three beginning at 2:12 p.m. CT from No. 10.
All 30 teams play three rounds of stroke play through Sunday. After round three, the top 15 teams and nine individuals not on advancing teams will make the 54-hole cut and play the final round of stroke play Monday, when the individual national champion will be crowned. Through 36 holes, Auburn is two strokes behind the three teams tied for 15th place.
The top eight teams after 72 holes will advance to match play. The quarterfinals and semifinals will take place Tuesday, with the championship match scheduled for Wednesday.
BabyGrande Golf will provide streaming coverage of round three before Golf Channel picks up coverage Monday through Wednesday. Golf Channel will broadcast Monday’s final round of stroke play from 4:30-8:30 p.m. CT, Tuesday’s quarterfinals from 12-2:30 p.m. CT and semifinals from 5-9 p.m. CT, and Wednesday’s championship match from 5-9 p.m. CT.
Live scoring will be available at scoreboard.clippd.com.
Auburn individuals:
|
Placement |
Player |
Round 1 Score |
Round 2 Score |
Total Score |
|
T38 |
76 (+4) |
69 (-3) |
145 (+1) |
|
|
T46 |
77 (+5) |
69 (-3) |
146 (+2) |
|
|
T94 |
73 (+1) |
76 (+4) |
149 (+5) |
|
|
T136 |
79 (+7) |
75 (+3) |
154 (+10) |
|
|
N/A |
Balma Dávalos |
SUB |
73 (+1) |
N/A |
|
N/A |
76 (+4) |
SUB |
N/A |