AU ROUNDUP: Women’s golf travels to Hooters Collegiate Derby

The No. 11/12 Auburn women’s golf team wraps up its fall schedule this week as the Tigers travel to Reunion, Fla., for the Hooters Collegiate Match Play Championship.

The three-day event is set to take place at the Ginn Reunion Resort and will feature 16 of the top women’s golf team’s in the country.

“This is a great tournament for us to compete in with a format you do not see too often in college golf,” said Auburn head coach Kim Evans. “We will be at a great facility, and if the weather can hold off on us, we are expecting some great golf.”

The tournament format will consist of 36 holes of stroke play today, followed by match play on Monday and Tuesday. It will take place on a composite of two of Gin’s courses, utilizing nine holes of the Independence Course and nine holes of the Legacy Course — the same format used in the LPGA’s Ginn Open.

The Hooters College Match Play is entering its sixth year of existence and is considered one of the top collegiate golf tournaments in the country. Teams are selected for the tournament based on rankings at the end of the fall season of the previous year.

This year’s field will be made up by Alabama, Arizona, Auburn, Denver, Duke, Florida, Georgia, Kent State, Michigan State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Tulsa, UCLA, Southern California, Vanderbilt and Virginia.

Historically, Duke has dominated at the tournament, taking the tournament title in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007. Purdue was able to take the tournament title in 2005.

The Auburn lineup of Candace Schepperle, Sarah Thead, Cydney Clanton, Patricia Sanz and Mariana Macias will be paired up with players from Kent State, Denver and Vanderbilt in the first and second rounds.

Tournament action is set to begin at 6:30 a.m. today with a shotgun start. Auburn will start on Nos. 10-13. The tournament will continue with a scheduled 11:30 a.m. shotgun start with the Tigers again starting on Nos. 10-13.

Men’s Tennis opens play at Florida State Invitational
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Auburn’s Nick Maurillo led a pack of three Tigers competing Saturday at the Florida State Invitational. Maurillo was the only singles player in the Round of 16, while Lukas Marsoun and Alex Stamchev advanced to the doubles quarterfinals.

Maurillo defeated the No. 6 seed Simon Childs of Louisville in the first round, 6-3, 6-1, in the doubles bracket. He could not keep the momentum going, however, and fell to Florida’s Carlos Cueto, 6-0, 6-1, in the second round.

Stamchev was overcome by Miami’s Ignacio Taboada in his first singles match of the day, 7-6, 6-4. Marsoun also lost his first singles match to Florida’s Joey Burkhardt, 6-4, 6-3.

Stamchev and Marsoun returned to action later in the day, competing in the doubles bracket. The Tigers pulled out an 8-4 win over Antonio Lastre and Chris Doerr of Mississippi State to advance to the quarterfinals. They will take on Floridas Jeff Dadamo and Tyler Hochwalt at 3 p.m. today.