Don’t look now, but Auburn is on a nice little roll.
The Tigers made it two straight tournament titles to start the spring portion of the wraparound 2025-2026 season and claimed their fourth victory of the season this week by rallying in the final round to edge Southeastern Conference rival Texas A&M by three shots in the Moon Golf Invitational hosted by Louisville at Suntree Country Club in Melbourne, Fla.
Auburn had opened its spring campaign with a team win in the UCF Challenge, presented by PDI at Eagle Creek Golf Club in Orlando, Fla., last month.
The Tigers had been led at Eagle Creek by Katie Cranston, a senior from Canada and No. 71 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) who captured the individual crown.
In the Moon Golf Invitational, Cranston was the lowest finisher in the Auburn lineup, ending up in the group tied for 33rd place with a 5-over 221 total.
But good teams pick each other up and, even with Cranston not at her best, Molly Brown Davidson, a sophomore from Springville, Ala., stepped up with a runnerup finish in the individual standings with a 3-under 213 total.
Auburn opened with a 4-over 292 over the 6,443-yard, par-71 Suntree layout and crept within three shots of Texas A&M with a 5-under 283 in Monday’s second round. The Tigers then closed with a 6-under 282 for a 7-under 857 total.
Auburn entered the week at No. 8 in the Scoreboard, powered by clippd, rankings, but moved up to No. 5 on the strength of its second straight tournament win.
Brown Davidson opened with a solid 2-under 70 and added a 2-over 74 in Monday’s second round before contributing a 3-under 69 to Auburn’s strong finish to end up four shots behind Texas A&M’s Vanessa Borovilos, a sophomore from Canada and No. 34 in the Women’s WAGR.
Auburn got another strong showing from Charlotte Cantonis, a freshman from Tampa, Fla. who finished in a tie for eighth place with Texas’ Farah O’Keefe, a junior home girl from Austin, Texas and No. 6 in the Women’s WAGR, each landing on even-par 216.
Cantonis struggled to a 7-over 79 in the opening round, but bounced back in a big way with the low round of the tournament, a 7-under 65 in Monday’s second round, before matching par in the final round with a 72.
Auburn had a disappointing finish to its 2024-’25 season, failing to advance to the NCAA Championship as a three seed in the Gold Canyon Regional.
Texas A&M, which moved up from No. 6 in the Scoreboard rankings to No. 4 in the aftermath of its runnerup finish at Suntree, opened up a three-shot lead over Auburn going into the final round as the Aggies opened with a 3-under 285 and added a 1-under 287 in Monday’s second round. Texas A&M matched par in the final round with a 288 to end up three shots behind Auburn with a 4-under 860 total.
Borovilos added a sparkling 4-under 68 in Monday’s second round to her opening-round 70 to take a three-shot lead into the final round. She closed with a 1-under 71 to cruise to the second individual win of her collegiate career with a 7-under 209 total.
Borovilos had finished in a tie for ninth place to lead Texas A&M to a third-place finish in a loaded field in the Therese Hession Regional Challenge, the opener to the Aggies’ spring campaign, last month at the Palos Verdes Golf Club in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.
Texas A&M got another top-10 finish in the individual standings from Natalie Yen, a freshman from West Linn, Ore. who ended up among a trio of rookies tied for 10th place along with LSU’s Ryleigh Knaub of Debary, Fla., and Mississippi State’s Ines Belchior of Portugal, each landing on 1-over 217.
After opening with a 1-over 73, Yen matched par in each of the final two rounds with back-to-back 72s.
Texas A&M fell short of a trip to last spring’s NCAA Championship when the Aggies lost out in a playoff to Purdue after finishing in a tie for fifth place as a four seed in the Lubbock Regional. Texas came out on fire in the fall, winning four times in five starts to open the wraparound 2025-’26 season.
Mississippi State made it a sweep of the top three spots for the SEC as the Bulldogs finished 11 shots behind Texas A&M in third place with a 7-over 871 total.
Mississippi State, the runnerup to Auburn in last month’s UCF Challenge, added a 3-under 285 in Monday’s second round to its opening round of 9-over 297 before closing with a 1-over 289.
The Bulldogs, who moved up from No. 16 to No. 11 in the Scoreboard rankings in the aftermath of the Moon Golf Invitational, were led by Belchior, who finished among that trio tied for 10th place at 1-over.
Belchior added a 1-over 73 in Monday’s second round to her opening-round 76 before finishing strong with a 4-under 68.
Mississippi State advanced to last spring’s NCAA Championship at the La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. by finishing in fourth place as a four seed in the Gold Canyon Regional, but was unable to earn a spot in the match-play bracket at La Costa.
Reigning Atlantic Coast Conference champion Wake Forest finished a shot behind Mississippi State in fourth place with an 8-over 872 total.
The Demon Deacons matched par in Monday’s second round with a 288 after opening with a 5-over 293 before closing with a 3-over 291.
Wake Forest was led by Macy Pate, a junior home girl from Winston-Salem, N.C. and No. 38 in the Women’s WAGR, and Anne-Starre den Dunnen, a senior from The Netherlands, as they shared third place in the individual standings with LSU’s Elsa Svensson, a graduate student from Sweden competing as an individual, and UCF’s Pimpisa “Sandwich” Sisutham, a senior from Thailand and No. 82 in the Women’s WAGR, the quartet landing on 2-under 214.
Pate opened with a 2-under 70 and added a 1-over 73 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 1-under 71. Den Dunnen bounced back from an opening round of 3-over 75 with a sparkling 5-under 67 in Monday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 72.
Wake Forest, which retained its No. 7 spot in the Scoreboard rankings following its fourth-place finish in the Moon Golf Invitational, reached the NCAA Championship by capturing the team title as a two seed in the Lubbock Regional last spring, but never got it going at La Costa.
A couple more SEC representatives, Tennessee and Florida, finished in fifth and sixth place, respectively, in a strong 17-team field.
The Volunteers, who moved up from No. 22 to No. 19 in the Scoreboard rankings in the aftermath of the Moon Golf Invitational, bounced back from an opening-round 299 with a solid 2-under 286 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 4-over 292 that left them five shots behind Wake Forest with a 13-over 877 total.
Tennessee was led by Manassanan Chotikabhukkana, a senior from Thailand who finished alone in seventh place in the individual standings with a 1-under 215 total. After opening with a 2-over 74, Chotikabhukkana recorded a 1-under 71 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 2-under 70.
Tennessee advanced to last spring’s NCAA Championship by finishing in fourth place as a six seed in the Lubbock Regional, but were unable to earn a spot in the match-play bracket at La Costa.
Florida, which dropped from No. 5 to No. 8 in the Scoreboard rankings following its showing at Suntree, was very consistent, registering a pair of 5-over 293s in the first two rounds and finishing up with a 4-over 292 to end up a shot behind Tennessee with a 14-over 878 total.
It was the third tournament of the spring already for Florida, which was coming off a fourth-place finish in that tough field in the Therese Hession Regional Challenge.
The Gators reached the NCAA Championship last spring by finishing in a tie for third place in the Charlottesville Regional, but were unable to earn a spot in the match-play bracket at La Costa.
Backing up Brown Davidson and Cantonis for Auburn were Anna Davis, a junior from Spring Valley, Calif. and No. 14 in the Women’s WAGR, and Carys Worby, a redshirt senior from Wales, as they both ended up among the group tied for 13th place at 2-over 218.
Davis, a member of the U.S. Curtis Cup team that fell to Great Britain & Ireland at Sunningdale Golf Club in Berkshire, England two years ago and likely to make the U.S. team again for this year’s Curtis Cup Match at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, Calif., opened with a 1-over 73 and added a 75 in Monday’s second round before contributing a key 2-under 70 while Auburn was rallying for the team win in the final round.
Worby also got off to a slow start with an opening round of 3-over 75, but she matched par in Monday’s second round with a 72 and closed with a 1-under 71 to join the group at 2-over.
Cranston, coming off that victory in the UCF Challenge, opened with a 2-over 74 and matched par in Monday’s second round with a 72 before closing with a 75 to end up at 5-over.
Anne Fernandez, a sophomore from Singapore, competed as an individual for Auburn and finished alone in 62nd place with a 227 total. Fernandez opened with a 1-over 73 and added a 75 in Monday’s second round before struggling in the final round with a 79.
Sisutham, UCF’s senior standout, closed with a sparkling 4-under 68 to get her share of third place at 2-under.
The Knights, a Big 12 representative, finished in a tie for ninth place with the ACC’s Duke at 21-over 885. UCF fell two spots in the Scoreboard rankings from No. 15 to No. 17 in the aftermath of the Moon Golf Invitational.
LSU’s Svensson closed with a sizzling 6-under 66 to join the quartet tied for third place at 2-under. Svensson had posted back-to-back 2-over 74s in the first two rounds. She certainly earned some consideration for a spot in the first five for LSU.
The Tigers also got a top-10 individual showing from the freshman Knaub, who matched par in the final round with a 72 to join the trio tied for 10th place at 1-over. Knaub had opened with a 2-over 74 before adding a 1-under 71 in Monday’s second round.
LSU finished in 13th place in the team standings with a 32-over 896 total and dropped two spots in the Scoreboard rankings from No. 32 to No. 34 in the aftermath of the Moon Golf Invitational.
Speaking of talented freshmen, Duke’s Avery McCrery, the pride of Wilmington, Del., had a solid showing, finishing among the group tied for 25th place with a 4-over 220 total. McCrery’s game showed some rust in an opening round of 5-over 77, but she bounced back with a 2-under 70 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 1-over 73.
Katie Li, a junior from Basking Ridge, N.J., is one of the veterans for the Blue Devils these days. She finished in the group tied for 49th place with a 7-over 224 total. Li also showed some rust in an opening round of 5-over 77, but improved with a 73 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 74.
The Dookies, who maintained their No. 13 spot in the Scoreboard rankings, shared ninth place with UCF at 21-over 885.
Duke was without its star freshman, Rianne Malixi, who rose to No. 18 in the Women’s WAGR following her victory in the Blue Devils’ spring opener, the Sea Best Intercollegiate at San Jose Country Club in Jacksonville, Fla.
Malixi of the Philippines was half a world away finishing in a tie for third place in the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific at Royal Wellington Golf Club in New Zealand.
Kiera Bartholomew, a junior at Virginia from Wake Forest, N.C., finished in 79th place with a 234 total. Bartholomew, who played out of Indian Valley Country Club in Telford as a youngster before heading south to North Carolina, bounced back from an opening-round 80 with a 1-over 73 in Monday’s second round before closing with an 81.
The Cavaliers, another ACC entry, finished in 16th place with a 46-over 910 total. Virginia fell from No. 38 to No. 42 in the Scoreboard rankings following the Moon Golf Invitational.
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