Sinz, Schofill have Auburn rolling at the right time as Tigers capture team crown in Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic

   There are some really powerful teams with designs on a national championship in women’s college golf this spring. Auburn is one of those teams.

   The Tigers, out of the Southeastern Conference, have the talent and experience to make noise when the postseason gets revved up next month. They proved it again over the weekend when they finished 11 shots clear of a really strong field gathered for the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic hosted by SEC rival Georgia at the University of Georgia Golf Course.

   Originally scheduled to be a 54-hole event, the Liz Murphey was shortened to 36 holes when a spring weather system brought downpours that forced the cancellation of Sunday’s final round.

   It was the 51^st edition of the Liz Murphey, making it one of the oldest women’s golf tournaments in college golf, in college sports, period, for that matter. It celebrates the woman who started it in 1973, a year after Title IX changed the landscape of women’s sports in this country forever. Murphey was the Georgia women’s golf coach when the first Georgia Invitational was played.

   Today it is named for the woman who was a trailblazer not just at Georgia, which is the envy of women’s sports programs everywhere, but throughout the country.

   For several competitors in the Liz Murphey, the event provided the perfect tuneup for the Augusta National Women’s Championship, the first  round of which will be completed at Champions Retreat Golf Club up the road in Augusta by the time this gets posted. The Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship has quickly become one of the premier events in women’s amateur golf. Somewhere, Liz Murphey is smiling.

   Auburn came to Athens at No. 10 in the latest Golfstat rankings and maintained that ranking with its victory. Behind individual champion Elina Sinz, a junior from Katy, Texas, and Megan Schofill, a senior from Monticello, Fla. and No. 38 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) who finished in a tie for third place individually, the Tigers got the jump on the field with a sparkling 11-under 277 over the 6,351-yard, par-72 UGA Golf Course layout in Friday’s opening round.

   Auburn, understanding that the weather forecast for Sunday didn’t look good, added a 2-under 286 in Saturday’s second round for a 13-under 563 total to claim its second tournament win of the wraparound 2022-2023 season.

   Sinz opened with a 3-under 69 and added 2-under 70 to earn her first collegiate victory with a 5-under 139 total. Schofill added a 1-under 71 in Saturday’s second round to her opening round of 2-under 70 for a 3-under 141 total.

   Sinz and Schofill were both in the lineup when Auburn gave eventual champion Stanford all it wanted before the Tigers fell, 3-2, in the semifinals of the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. last spring.

   It wouldn’t be surprising in the least to see Auburn in the match-play bracket at Grayhawk again in May.

   No. 4 South Carolina, another SEC power, claimed runnerup honors with a 2-under 574 total. The Gamecocks struggled a little in the opening round with a 2-over 290 before bouncing back with the best team round of the day in Saturday’s second round, a 4-under 284.

   The Gamecocks were led by Louise Rydqvist, a sophomore from Sweden and No. 70 in the Women’s WAGR who finished a shot behind Sinz in second place in the individual chase with a 4-under 140 total.

   Rydqvist, the runnerup to UCF’s Jess Baker in The Women’s Amateur Championship last summer at England’s Hunstanton Golf Club, matched Sinz’s opening round of 3-under 69 before adding a 1-under 71 in Saturday’s second round.

   South Carolina advanced to Grayhawk as the top seed in the NCAA Tallahassee Regional a year ago, but never got it  going in the NCAA Championship.

   No. 21 Florida gave the SEC a sweep of the first three spots in the team standings in the Liz Murphey as the Gators finished seven shots behind South Carolina in third place with a 5-over 281 total. Florida matched par in the opening round with a 288 before adding a 5-over 293 in Saturday’s second round.

   The Gators failed to advance to the NCAA Championship as a two seed at the Albuquerque Regional last spring.

   No. 54 Purdue, a perennial Big Ten power, and North Carolina, out of the Atlantic Coast Conference, finished in a tie for fourth place, two shots behind Florida at 7-over 583.

   Purdue struggled in the opening round with a 10-over 298 before bouncing back with a solid 3-under 285 in Saturday’s second round. The Boilermakers had to get past Big Ten rival Northwestern in a playoff to advance to the NCAA Championship out of the Stanford Regional as an eight seed last spring.

   After opening with a 7-over 295, North Carolina matched par in Saturday’s second round with a 288. The  Tar Heels moved up three spots in the Golfstat rankings from No. 52 to No. 49 in the aftermath of the Liz Murphey.

   Host Georgia, ranked 29^th, and a couple of other ACC entries, No. 19 Virginia and Louisville, finished in a tie for sixth place in the 15-team field, each landing on 10-over 586.

   The Bulldogs advanced to the NCAA Championship as a five seed out of the Albuquerque Regional last spring. Only one other SEC team joined Auburn in the match-play bracket at Grayhawk and that was Georgia, which, like Auburn, gave Stanford a fight before falling, 3-2, in the quarterfinals.

   Everybody wants to win a national title, but it says here if you’re one of the eight teams still standing in the match-play bracket at the NCAA Championship, you had a great season.

   Georgia added a 4-over 292 in Saturday’s second round to its opening-round 294 on its home course.

   Virginia, which advanced to the NCAA Championship as a two seed in the Ann Arbor Regional last spring, opened with a solid 1-over 289 before struggling a little in Saturday’s second round with a 9-over 297.

   Louisville, which failed to advance to the NCAA Championship as a seven seed in the Albuquerque Regional last spring, added a 3-over 291 in Saturday’s second round to its opening round of 7-over 295. The Cardinals moved up a spot from No. 67 to No. 66 in the Golfstat rankings off their showing in the Liz Murphey.

   Katie Cranston, a freshman from Canada, gave Auburn a third finisher in the top five as she was part of a group of four players tied for fifth place at 2-under 142. Cranston had a share of the lead following her opening round of 3-under 69 before adding a 1-over 73 in Saturday’s second round.

   Casey Weidenfeld, a redshirt freshman from Pembroke Pines, Fla., gave Auburn four players under par in the opening round as she joined her teammates Sinz and Cranston as well as South Carolina’s Rydqvist at the top of the leaderboard with a 3-under 69. Weidenfeld backed off a little in Saturday’s second round with a 4-over 76, but finished in the group tied for 14^th place with a 1-over 145 total.

   Rounding out the Auburn lineup was Anna Foster, a junior from Ireland and No. 90 in the Women’s WAGR who finished in the group tied for 22^nd place with a 3-over 147 total. After opening with a 3-over 75, Foster matched par in Saturday’s second round with a 72.

   Foster was in the Tigers’ lineup, along with Sinz and Schofill, in their semifinal loss to Stanford in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk a year ago.

   Joining Schofill in the tie for third place at 3-under 141 was Florida’s Maisse Filler, a junior from Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. and No. 89 in the Women’s WAGR. Filler added a 2-under 70 in Saturday’s second round to her opening round of 1-under 71.

   Joining Auburn’s Cranston in the quartet tied for fifth place at 2-under 142 were Georgia’s Jenny Bae, a fifth-year player from Suwanee, Ga. and No. 28 in the Women’s WAGR, Virginia’s Amanda Sambach, a sophomore from Pinehurst, N.C. and No. 51 in the Women’s WAGR, and Purdue’s Momo Sugiyama, a sophomore from Australia.

   Bae opened with a two-under 70 before matching par in Saturday’s second round with a 72. Sambach carded a pair of 1-under 71s. After opening with a 1-over 73, Sugiyama matched the low round of Saturday’s second round with a 3-under 69.

   A little breaking news as I wrap up this post: Bae carded a sparkling 3-under 69 in Wednesday’s opening round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship at Champions Retreat and is alone in third place, three shots behind Stanford sophomore Rose Zhang, the No. 1 player in the Women’s WAGR.

   North Carolina’s Megan Streicher, a freshman from South Africa, finished alone in ninth place in the Liz Murphey as she matched par in the opening round with a 72 and added a 1-under 71 in Saturday’s second round for a 1-under 143 total.

   Streicher’s fellow Tar Heel, Crista Izuzguiza, a junior from Spain, was part of a group of four players tied for 10^th place at even-par 144 that included South Carolina’s Hannah Darling, a sophomore from Scotland and No. 12 in the Women’s WAGR, Texas A&M’s Blanca Fernandez Garcia-Poggio, a junior from Spain, and College of Charleston’s Emma Schmipf, a sophomore from Daniel Island, S.C.’

   The two Spaniards, Izuzguiza and Fernandez Garcia-Poggio, had the same splits, each matching the low round of Saturday’s second round with a 3-under 69 after opening with a 3-over 75. Darling added a 1-under 71 in Saturday’s second round to her opening-round 73. After opening with a 2-over 74, Schimpf recorded a 2-under 70 in Saturday’s second round.

   Virginia got a strong showing from junior Jennifer Cleary, who starred scholastically at Tower Hill School. Cleary matched par in the opening round with a 72 before adding a 1-over 73 in Saturday’s second round to finish among the group tied for 14^th placed with a 1-over 145 total.

   Cleary and Duke junior Phoebe Brinker, a scholastic rival of Cleary’s at Archmere Academy and the reigning ACC individual champion, represented Wilmington, Del. and Wilmington Country Club in the field for the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship Wednesday at Champions Retreat Golf Club.

   Cleary opened with a 5-over 77 at Champions Retreat Wednesday while Brinker struggled to a 7-over 79.

   In addition to Bae’s 3-under 69 at Champions Retreat Wednesday, the scores for the other top-10 finishers in the Liz Murphey in the opening round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship included 2-over 74s for Virginia’s Sambach and South Carolina’s Darling and 3-over 75s for Auburn’s Schofill and Florida’s Filler.