Auburn's men and women's golf teams will compete in the 2009 SEC Championship this week, which kicks off on Friday.
The women's golf team will head to the University Club in Blythewood, S.C., while the men's team will go to the Frederica Club and Sea Island Golf Club in Sea Island, Ga. Both teams hope to enter the championship with clear heads and the right kind of focus to perform their best.
"We're just going to go and get a feel for the golf course during the practice round and be able to set small goals that'll help us attain larger goals," said women's golf head coach Kim Evans. "We're really committed to taking each day at a time and not getting ahead of ourselves."
Men's golf head coach Mike Griffin recognizes the level of difficulty of the golf course in Georgia and hopes his team can perform at the highest level. "The golf course has very demanding greens that have a lot of speed, so you've got to be able to hit the ball a long way," Griffin said. "The closer you get to the green, the more you need talent, touch and imagination. We've got two seniors, a junior and two freshmen this year, and I hope they can go over and perform well."
According to Golfweek Magazine, the women's golf team is ranked sixth in the nation.
Junior Candace Schepperle holds the No. 1 spot in the nation in women's individual, followed by All-American Courtney Clanton at No. 34.
The Tigers began their fall season by coming in seventh at the NCAA Fall Preview in September and placing ninth at the Mason Rudolph Championship in Nashville, Tenn.
Toward the end of the fall season, Schepperle led the Tigers with an even-par 126 at the Derby Invitational at Auburn, and the team finished fourth.
The women's team persevered through bad weather to win the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic March 29, and April 7, the team earned another win at the SunTrust Lady Gator Invitational in Florida.
The men's team began its fall season tying for 12th at the Carpet Capital Collegiate and placing sixth a week later at Shoal Creek Invitational in Birmingham.
The team finished its fall season coming in 12th at The Bank of Tennessee Ridges Intercollegiate and jumped into its spring season placing eighth in Hawaii at the John Burns Intercollegiate.
On April 7, the Tigers, led by senior Glenn Northcutt who tied for 10th overall, came in sixth at the Bank of America Intercollegiate in Madison, Mo.
Men's golf is ranked No. 53 in the nation.
As for SEC rivals, there is not just one to focus on and compete against, but all of them are capable of taking the championship.
"Everybody is capable of winning the championship," said assistant women's golf coach Courtney Trimble. "It's pretty deep. The whole conference has a chance to win. We're just going to go take one day at a time and hope to win the championship on the last day."
In men's golf, Georgia is nationally ranked No. 1, with Florida following at No. 7 and Alabama at No. 10.
LSU is ranked 17th and stands as a large rival.
"It's going to be a tough time, because there are a lot of good teams this year," Griffin said. "Practically everyone is our main rival, but Georgia is ranked No. 1 in most of the poles this year, and Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, LSU and Arkansas are all real strong teams. It'll be something exciting to watch this thing come down, and tremendously exciting to get in there and get top 10."
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