Georgia climbs the leaderboard at SEC golf tournament at Auburn
AUBURN, Ala. — The Georgia women’s golf team fired a 2-over 290 in Tuesday’s second round of the NCAA Auburn Regional and more importantly, climbed to a tie for fifth on the team leaderboard. The top-5 teams following Wednesday’s final round at the Auburn University Club will advance to the NCAA Championships.
Fast Facts
• Fifth-year senior Caterina Don led Georgia with a 3-under 69, tying for the low loop of the field on Tuesday. Don’s round was more impressive considering she double-bogeyed No. 2 before playing her final 16 holes at 5-under.
• Georgia’s 2-over team tally was the second-best score posted on Tuesday.
• The Bulldogs also counted a 73 from Bernice Olivarez Ilas and a pair of 74s from Napat “Jenny” Lertsadwattana and Natachanok “Drive” Tunwannarux.
• Entering the final round, there are seven strokes separating the six teams in the second-seventh positions on the team leaderboard.
• Three Bulldogs occupy top-25 spots on the individual leaderboard. Don is tied for ninth at 2-over 146, Lertsadwattana is tied for 14th at 148 and Olivarez Ilas is tied for 25th at 151.
• The Bulldogs will be paired with Oregon and Tulsa for the third round, teeing off from No. 10 between 9:00-9:44 a.m. ET with live scoring available via www.golfstat.com.
• Georgia is looking to advance to the NCAA Championships and record a top-20 national finish for the fourth straight season.
Key Quotes
“We thought we had a chance to make a run like we did at SECs,” head coach Josh Brewer said. “The golf course was hard but hat’s off to our fifth-years. That’s why they are in the lineup this time of year. They’ve got a lot of experience, and they stepped up when we really needed them.”
“You’ve just got to play well (tomorrow),” Brewer said. “You’re trying to win the day. You might throw Auburn out, truthfully, just because they are up and will be really head to beat on their home golf course, just like we were last year. One thing is that we have experience. We’ve found a way to close in NCAA Regionals where other teams have not. We’re going to rely on that. We’re just going to get a good night’s sleep and get ready to tee it up. Five hours of competing, what is better than that? It’s why you’re at the University of Georgia. Let’s just hope we can do what we did today tomorrow.”
“My head was like ‘this is not how I’m going to go out,’” said fifth-year senior Caterina Don. “I made two bad swings in a row and the next tee shot was not my favorite shot on the course. Once I hit it down the middle, I was like “let’s go.’ I mean, it happens. I knew there were going to be some birdie chances out there. I my mind I was thinking I just made three bogeys in a row. You’re going to make three bogeys at some point so I just kept going.”
Up Next
Following Wednesday’s final round of the Auburn Regional, the top-5 teams will advance to the NCAA Championships at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa on Carlsbad, Calif, on May 17-22. There are five other Regionals wrapping up tomorrow to determine the 30-team field for the NCAAs.
