Auburn women’s golf was able to capture the regional title and a spot in the national championship tournament shooting a combined 10 strokes over par during the three day contest. The Tigers were led by early enrollee and true freshman Anna Davis who won the individual regional championship at five under par over three rounds.
“You know, she's just such a chill girl. Nothing really gets her flapped too much,” head coach Melissa Luellen said of Davis. “She was so committed. It was just really fun to be out there the last few holes with her and just see how dialed in she was. So really proud of her.
“Getting her first college win at home and she just played beautiful golf, so I'm proud of the entire squad.”
Davis, unlike many of her teammates, was able to weather the storm on the front nine, shooting one under, before rattling off three birdies on the back nine for a final score of 69 (-3). The rest of the Tigers all posted scores of four over a piece on what proved to be the tougher half of Auburn University Club throughout the week.
“I felt like it played harder and harder every day,” Megan Schofill said of her team’s home course. “Greens just got a little bit more firm. This morning it was just playing pretty tough. It was pretty windy in the beginning. But luckily, on the back nine, which is usually our front nine, I liked that side a lot better and was able to make a few good putts and made some birdies coming down the stretch which was really helpful.”
Schofill made four birdies in her final eight holes to end the final day at even par and finish tied for second behind Davis on the individual leaderboard. The senior’s final birdie came off an off the green, downhill putt that required perfect touch.
“So Coach Kim and I were just trying to decide if I should chip it or putt it,” Schofill said over her final shot. “The lie wasn't great so we just felt like putting it gave me the best opportunity to get it somewhat close. And right off the putter face I thought I had left it short and Kim was like, ‘oh, that's gonna be really good, It's gonna be really good.’ It was just a big swinger. You just had to barely get it down over the hill. I was trying to hit it five feet no more. And yeah, it just turned out perfect. I don't think I could do that again if I tried another 100 times.”
Entering the day with a 14 shot lead over the rest of the competition, Auburn fell to second early in the round after posting an 11 over total score and three-seed Oregon shooting five under after starting on the back nine.
“We had a couple that really struggled out there today. But just knowing that you do have a team behind you and that every single shot matters and you cannot get down on yourself. You can't be sad. You can be upset, but you can get past that,” said Luellen of the team’s start. “We know how hard the golf course is. We know how hard the fourth hole plays. I think we just kind of psyched ourself out. And that was really stressful playing that hole and getting over par quickly. But like I said, the way they were able to calm down and get centered and finish strong was really proud of them.”
Auburn, alongside Oregon, North Carolina, Tusla and South Carolina, will advance from the regional round to the national championship tournament at the Omni La Costa Champions Course in Carlsbad, CA from May 17-22.
“I think when we're all playing really good golf. We're a really good team and I truly do believe that I've been saying to these girls all year that we really can do something special,” Schofill said.
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Patrick is a sophomore from Auburn, Alabama, double majoring in journalism and marketing. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2022.
