BELLEAIR, Fla. – No. 14 Women’s golf fired a round of 4-under (276) on Monday and is in third place through the first round of stroke play at the SEC Championship at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida. Sophomore Anna Davis and redshirt junior Carys Worby led the Tigers with rounds of 65 (-5) and 66 (-4), respectively.
“Nice to start hot with a 66 and a 65!” said Auburn head coach Melissa Luellen. “This course is very good as you must be disciplined with course management, and Carys (Worby) and Anna (Davis) did just that. Casey (Weidenfeld) started off rough but played with grit on her back nine for a counting score and Katie (Cranston) made two nice putts on the final holes for par saves. We need to keep grinding on every shot over the next two rounds to secure a high seed for match play.”
After beginning her round on No. 10 tee, Davis finished her opening nine with back-to-back birdies to make the turn at 2-under. She then picked up another two consecutive birdies on No. 1 and No. 2 and recorded another birdie on the par-5 seventh hole before finishing her round at 5-under (65). Davis is tied for the individual lead alongside South Carolina’s Eila Galitsky and Hannah Darling. The Auburn sophomore broke 70 for the 11th time this season on Monday.
After making the turn at 1-under, Worby found success on the front nine at Pelican Golf Club, recording three birdies for a bogey-free 66 (-4). The round marks a new career low for Worby and places her in a tie for fourth place on the individual leaderboard.
Auburn junior Katie Cranston carded three birdies in her opening round and shot 72 (+2 to finish the day in a tie for 38th place individually. Casey Weidenfeld, in her first team event since the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate, provided the final counting score for the Tigers on Monday with a 3-over 73.
As a team, Auburn is on 10 strokes behind tournament leader South Carolina and one stroke shy of second place LSU. Three shots separate the Tigers from the two teams tied for fourth place. The Tigers recorded 16 birdies as a team during the first round and their par-4 scoring average of 3-under is tied for the best mark in the field.
Auburn will begin Tuesday’s second round at 7 a.m. CT from the first tee alongside players from South Carolina and LSU. After three rounds of stroke play are completed on Wednesday, the top eight teams will move on to the match play portion of the championship. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be played on Thursday while the finals will take place on Friday.
Thursday afternoon’s semifinals will be streaming live on SEC Network + while the finals will be broadcast on SEC Network on Friday. Live scoring for each round of stroke play and match play will be available at Golfstat.com.
Auburn individuals:
|
Placement |
Player |
Round 1 Score |
|
T1 |
65 (-5) |
|
|
T4 |
66 (-4) |
|
|
T38 |
72 (+2) |
|
|
T48 |
73 (+3) |
|
|
T70 |
Balma Dávalos |
76 (+6) |