Weidenfeld leads No. 6 Auburn through second round of NCAA Championship

CARLSBAD, Calif. -  No. 6 Women's golf is tied for fifth place in a field of 30 teams after firing a second round 290 (+2) on Saturday at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa Champions Course in Carlsbad, California. The team has a score of 575 (-1) through two rounds. The Tigers were led by Casey Weidenfeld, who recorded a second consecutive round of 2-under (70) and is currently in a tie for fourth place on the individual leaderboard.
 
"Every day we're learning more about the golf course," Auburn head coach Melissa Luellen said after the round. "We're choosing more strategic about clubs off of tees and I find that this golf course doesn't lend itself to power. I think the girls have done a really good job with making good decisions off the tees, changing clubs and just really managing the golf ball around.
 
"Probably the most disappointing thing today is we just didn't make any putts. Everything else is in order and we didn't hit bad putts, maybe just misread some of the greens a little bit. Overall, I'm pretty pleased. I think it's been two solid days of golf. Our goal tomorrow is just to try to separate ourselves a little bit and move up that leaderboard, working on being in that top eight."
 
Weidenfeld, who began her round on the 10th tee, made the turn at even par before sticking a close approach for a birdie on No. 4. She then added another birdie to her card on the par-5 sixth hole to later finish 4-under through 36 holes (140). The redshirt sophomore now has 110 birdies this season, which is three shy of the record for most in a single season by an Auburn player.
 
"My putting has been really good the last few days," Weidenfeld said after the round. "I've been rolling them on line and I'm seeing a bunch go in. I've made four birdies and a couple of bogeys in each round, so just some steady golf and ball striking has been pretty good too."
 

Birdie for Casey 🐝 moves her to 1-under for the day 💪

📊 https://t.co/OicHlYTpVC pic.twitter.com/wn6ogWeFSX

— Auburn Women's Golf (@AuburnWGolf) May 18, 2024

 
Freshman Anna Davis is also in the individual top-10 through two rounds at 3-under (141), which places her in a tie for seventh place. Davis followed up an opening round of 69 with an even par 72 on Saturday. Davis recorded a par on every hole during her first nine, then carded a bogey on No. 1 and a birdie near the end of her round on No. 7. The freshman has played the par-4s at the Champions Course at 4-under for the tournament.  
 
"She's been hitting the ball well, but I would say she didn't have a great putting day herself," Coach Luellen said about Davis' round. "When I got to watch her play the last five holes, she was able to keep her emotions in check. Didn't hit the best wedge on No. 6, which would have been her 15th hole, and just left herself in a really difficult spot. Although she was upset she hit a bad shot, she just collected herself and hit and brilliant pitch shot to get up and down. Then she turns around and birdies the next hole."
 
Senior Megan Schofill shot a 74 (+2) in her second round and is tied for 37th on the individual leaderboard at 145 (+1). Anna Foster nearly holed out her approach shot on her first hole of the day which led to a birdie, but made the turn at 2-over for the day. Foster played steady on her second nine with a par on each hole to card a second round 74 (+2). Foster is tied for 74th individually at 5-over for the tournament (149).
 

The Annas puttin' in work 🏌️‍♀️#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/5okGyuhnEx

— Auburn Women's Golf (@AuburnWGolf) May 18, 2024

 
As a team, the Tigers are 10 strokes behind the leader, Texas A&M, and must be within the top-15 teams after Sunday's round to play the final round of stroke play on Monday.
 
The championship format includes 30 teams and six individuals competing in 54 holes of stroke play, which will conclude on Sunday. Then the top 15 teams along with the top nine individuals not on an advancing team will compete in one additional day of stroke play on Monday to determine the top eight teams for match play competition and the 72-hole stroke play individual champion.
 
The top eight teams after 72 holes of play will be placed into a bracket with the No. 1 seed playing the No. 8 seed, the No. 2 seed playing the No. 7 seed, the No. 3 seed playing the No. 6 seed and the No. 4 seed playing the No. 5 seed in match play. Three rounds of match play will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday to decide the national champion.
 
Auburn will be paired with LSU and UCLA for the third round on Sunday beginning just after 9 a.m. CT. Live scoring of Sunday's round will be available online at Golfstat.com and the GolfStat mobile app.
 
 
Auburn individuals: