Leading by sophomore Elina Shinz, Auburn Tigers put a pedal on metal in a race to the finish line to qualify for match play at the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship on Monday.
The Tigers played the last two holes with six under pars, which helped Auburn move to the match play quarterfinals in Scottsdale, Arizona on Tuesday.
On the 72nd hole, the Tigers got birdies from Sints, Michael Obery and Cary Telfer, Eagle 3 from Megan Shofil, Auburn finished in 5th place and 8 teams in 8th place in Georgia. I made a difference of 7 strokes. Final qualifier.
“It was a very strong finish,” said Melissa Ruelen. “The 16th, 17th and 18th were birdies, birdies, birdies, birdies, birdies and eagle. We’re really working hard to finish the round in the last 5 holes. We did the same in the area last week. bottom.
“It felt a bit dangerous there for a while,” Lurelen said. “There was a 12-shot clearance on the 9th hole and a two-shot clearance on the 13th hole. After that, we just pulled apart.”
Auburn, who participated in the 17th NCAA tournament nationwide, joined Stanford in 1st place as the only two teams to advance to match play in consecutive seasons. The Tigers and Cardinal also advanced to match play in 2019, and the 2020 tournament was not played due to a pandemic.
The Tigers will play 15th place UCLA in the 4th vs. 5th seed match on Tuesday. The winner of the match will play in the semi-finals later in the day. Winner against Stanford vs Georgia. The championship will be decided on Wednesday.
Auburn finished Monday’s round with 2 over par 290, consistent with the highest score of the tournament posted in Round 2. Auburn’s four-day total is 1,175, six shots behind UCLA.
Stanford first finished with 9 overpars of 1,161, followed by Oregon in 2nd place with 1,164 and Texas A & M in 19th place with 1166 in 3rd place.
The other teams in the match play were Florida State University in 6th place and 10th place in 1179, 4 shots behind Auburn, 5th place in San Jose State University in 1181th place, and 27th place in Georgia State University in 1182nd place. is. Arizona, the 7th-ranked host in the country, missed the cut by two strokes over Georgia.
With the help of three consecutive birdies on holes 6, 7, and 8, Sints posted Auburn’s best round at the Grayhawk Golf Club with a par 2 under 70. She finished the round on Monday with 5 birdies, 2 bogies and 11 pars.
“She played great for us in the last round at Stillwater, and played really solidly for the last two days,” Ruelen said of Sints. “She is the first person for us, she is hitting the fairways and greens, and she is doing well. She likes these greens.”
Skofil finished with one under par in 71 big bounce back rounds after shooting 82 on Sunday. Monday’s junior round included four birdies, three bogies, one double bogey, one eagle and nine pars.
“I thought Megan Shofil’s turnaround from yesterday’s terrible day was pretty good,” Ruelen said. It was a lot of fun to see all these great shots and great finishes on the 18th hole. “
Second grade Anna Foster scored the third best score of the day for the Tigers, with a plus two over par 74. She finished with 2 birdies, 4 bogies and 12 pars.
Senior pairs O’Berry and Schofill each posted 75 rounds. O’Berry ended with 4 birdies, 3 double bogeys, 2 double bogeys and 9 pars. The Telfer scorecard included 3 birdies, 4 bogeys, 1 double bogey and 10 pars.
The Golf Channel will begin reporting Tuesday’s match play at 11:00 CST.
“I didn’t put myself in a stressful position because I worked so hard today to play really great,” Ruelen said. “What really impressed me was that after they made a few doubles (bogies) on the 10th and missed the frustrating par’s short putt, they really buckled and ended up behind. “
*** apply: Receive the latest Auburn information and scoops*** ***
