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September 6, 2000
AUBURN- The fifth-ranked Auburn women's golf team will play
host to the seventh annual Auburn Tiger-Derby Invitational Friday
through Sunday at the par-72, 6142-yard Auburn University Club course.
Auburn and 10th-ranked LSU headline the 12-team field that
includes Alabama, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Florida
State, Tulane, Central Florida, South Florida, Georgia State and North
Carolina-Wilmington.
Two Tigers are ranked in the top 10 in the nation individually.
Sophomore Danielle Downey, who won three tournaments last year as a
freshman, including the SEC Championship, is ranked sixth in the country
while sophomore Celeste Troche, the 2000 SEC Freshman of Year, is 10th.
Troche just finished ninth in the world at the World Amateur Team
Championship in Germany last month.
Auburn returns four starters off last year's team which
finished a school-best sixth in the nation at the NCAA Championship.
Downey will play the No. 1 position while junior Courtney Swaim will
play No. 2. Sophomore Anne Hutto occupies the No. 3 spot followed by
Kimberly Strong at No. 4 and Troche at No. 5. Freshman Diana Ramage, an
AJGA All-American, will compete as an individual in the tournament and
will not count towards the team score.
"It is great to get the season underway and there is not a
better place to do it than at home," head coach Kim Evans said. "We
have the makings of a very special team, and I look for us to get
started in the right way. It will be a lot of fun playing in front of
the home crowd."
After playing the first six years at Saugahatchee Country Club,
the tournament moves to the Auburn University Club for the first time.
Auburn's Kami Smith, who graduated this past year, is the defending
champion while Georgia is the defending team champion.
The first and second round Friday and Saturday begins at 7:09 am
while Sunday's final round begins at 8 am. Auburn tees off Friday
beginning at 8:39 am and will be paired with LSU and Tulane. Second and
final round pairings will be determined by scoring.
Admission for the tournament is free.
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