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Auburn Women’s Golf Wins SEC Championship
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. --
The No. 5-ranked Auburn women’s golf team held off a late surge from
host Arkansas and Alabama to win the Southeastern Conference
Championship Sunday. Senior Patricia Sanz made it an Auburn sweep,
winning the individual title for the first tournament win of her
collegiate career.
Conducted by the SEC and the University of
Arkansas, the SEC Championship is a 54-hole stroke play tournament
being played at the Blessings Golf Course. The tournament features
eight teams ranked in the top 25 in the nation. The par-72 course is
playing at 6,134 yards for the tournament.
“It is just amazing,
we have won a few of these, but this one is one of the most important,”
said Auburn head coach Kim Evans. “I could not be happier for the team,
they played their hearts out and never quit. On a golf course as tough
as this one, that’s what it took to win.”
The SEC title is the
ninth all-time for Auburn and the eighth for Evans. The title is Also
Auburn’s second in a row and third in the last four years. Sanz’s
individual title is the first tournament victory of her career and the
sixth individual SEC title for Auburn. The last Tiger to take home the
SEC title was Maria Martinez in 2006.
Auburn started the day
with a one-stroke lead and finished in the same position, but not
before battling it out with the Razorbacks down the stretch. The Tigers
led through the first nine holes, but lost strokes on the first three
holes of the back nine that allowed Arkansas to take the lead.
The
host Razorbacks could not hold on to the lead, dropping 11 strokes in
the final three holes, giving the Tigers the opportunity they needed to
re-take the lead for good.
Playing on a difficult golf course
with winds gusting into the high 20s, Evans was happy with how her team
held up to the conditions.
“Everyone tells you that it is a
tough golf course and you don’t believe it until you get here and play
it,” said Evans. With the wind today, it really made it tough. I was so
proud of our players for keeping their head up and taking it one hole
at a time, that was so important today.”
Sanz, a native of
Madrid, Spain, carded a final-round 77 to finish the tournament with a
3-over 219. She played the first five holes at even-par, but a
triple-bogey on No. 6 and bogeys on Nos. 7 and 8 set her back. On a day
when the average score on the course was nearly an 81, Sanz re-grouped
to score par or better on nine of her final 10 holes to hold on to the
lead and the victory.
She finished the tournament one stroke ahead of Vanderbilt’s Marina Alex (220) and two ahead of Arkansas’ Emily Tubert (221).
“I
could not be happier for Patti, she has worked so hard this year and to
win this tournament is amazing for her,” said Evans. “After a few holes
on the practice round day, I pulled her aside and told her that this
course really played to her style and that this was her time. She
really took that to heart and had a great three days.”
Sanz
earns the victory after finishing no higher than a tie for 16th this
season. But, the SEC Tournament has been one throughout her career that
she has played well at, tying for 14th a year ago and tying for sixth
as a freshman.
“I’m the happiest person in the world,” said
Sanz. “This came at best time, I’m a senior, our team won, I just
couldn’t have asked for anything better.
“To accomplish it is
amazing, this is one of the most important tournaments we play all
year. I’ve been struggling some this season and the coaches believed
me. I kept reminding myself to stay positive, stay in the present and
remember that this is a hard course for everyone.”
The best
round of the day for Auburn went to freshman Victoria Trapani as she
closed out her first SEC Tournament with a 2-over 74 to finish the
event tied for eighth at 13-over 229, moving up 14 spots on the day. It
is the best finish for an Auburn freshman since Sanz tied for sixth in
2009.
Junior Carlie Yadloczky also finished in the top 20,
carding a final-round 82 to tie for 17th with 16-over 232. It is the
second top-20 finish of her career at SECs after tying for 19th a year
ago.
Rounding out the lineup were senior Haley Wilson and
sophomore Marta Sanz, both carding 9-over 81s. Wilson finished the
tournament in a tie for 36th with a 24-over 240 while Sanz tied for
39th with a 26-over 242. As part of her up-and-down day, Sanz also
carded an eagle on No. 9, giving Auburn three of the five eagles made
on the course the entire tournament.
In the team race, it was
Auburn, Arkansas and Alabama at the top with Florida (925) and Georgia
(933) rounding out the top five. South Carolina (936) moved into sixth,
followed by LSU (937), Vanderbilt (940), Kentucky (946) and Ole Miss
(950) in 10th. Tennessee (951) finished 11th while Mississippi State
(974) took 12th.
Individually, Sanz, Alex and Tubert were at the
top with LSU’s Madelene Sagstrom in fourth with a 7-over 223 and
Georgia’s Marta Silva Zamora in fifth with a 10-over 226. Camilla
Hedberg (Florida) and Emma Lavy (Arkansas) tied for sixth with 12-over
228s while Jennifer Kirby (Alabama), Rocio Sanchez Lobato (Georgia),
Lauren Stratton (Vanderbilt) and Trapani (Auburn) tied for eighth with
13-over 229s.
Auburn will return to the golf course May 3-5 at
the NCAA Regional Championships. The NCAA Regional selection
announcement is set for Monday, April 30.
TEAM RESULTS
1 - Auburn - 306-297-313--916 (+52)
2 - Arkansas - 309-295-313--917 (+53)
3 - Alabama - 297-312-313--922 (+58)
4 - Florida - 307-305-313--925 (+61)
5 - Georgia - 308-306-319--933 (+69)
6 - South Carolina - 315-309-313--936 (+72)
7 - LSU - 310-309-318--937 (+73)
8 - Vanderbilt - 318-307-315--940 (+76)
9 - Kentucky - 317-307-322--946 (+82)
10 - Ole Miss - 309-315-326--950 (+86)
11 - Tennessee - 320-309-322--951 (+87)
12 - Mississippi State - 315-326-333--974 (+110)
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
1 - Patricia Sanz - 69-73-77--219 (+3)
T8 - Victoria Trapani - 77-78-74--229 (+13)
T17 - Carlie Yadloczky - 77-73-82--232 (+16)
T36 - Haley Wilson - 86-73-81--240 (+24)
T39 - Marta Sanz - 83-78-81--242 (+26)
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