AUBURN, Ala. – After a two-month break, the Auburn women's golf team will make their 2020 competitive debut this week in the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge.
"We've been practicing for a long time, and I think we're done practicing," Auburn head coach Melissa Luellen said. "We're like, 'Let's go play a tournament.' We're very excited. These girls also have an understanding that the spring truly is our championship segment. They know how quickly it goes, and I think they're pretty fired up."
This will be Auburn's first appearance in the tournament, which runs Sunday through Tuesday and is played at the Palos Verdes Golf Club (par 71, 6,017 yards) in California. The 16-team field includes eight of the nation's top 10 teams per Golfstat and 12 teams ranked in the top 20.
"I've tried over the years to continue to elevate the field strength of the tournaments that our team plays in because then they're very comfortable when they get to the NCAA Championship," Luellen said. "They've seen these teams before. They're not intimidated."
"I know the field is really good and super strong, but if anything, that's an incentive for us to work hard and give it our all," added senior Kayley Marschke.
Playing in her second tournament of the season, Marschke will play out of the fifth spot in the lineup for Auburn. The senior, who has two top-five finishes in her career, shot a season-low round of 74 (+2) at the Magnolia Invitational in the fall
Junior Mychael O'Berry will be in the No. 1 spot for the Tigers this weekend followed by freshman Megan Schofill, sophomore Brooke Sansom, junior Kaleigh Telfer and Marschke.
"I'd like for them to be thinking about where they can save shots to be able to put themselves in the position the last day to have a chance to win," Luellen said. "They know that they cannot rest on their laurels. They have to continue to work hard."
Auburn's first golfer will tee off at 12:12 p.m. CT on Sunday. For the first round, the Tigers will be paired with Pepperdine, Vanderbilt and Washington. Live scoring can be found on Golfstat.com.