The No. 4 Auburn women’s golf team continue its season, as the Tigers begin competition today at the 2010 NCAA Golf Championships at the Country Club of Landfall in Wilmington, N.C.

Auburn is one of 24 teams in the tournament field contending for the national title, playing in the 72-hole event hosted by the University of North Carolina-Wilmington

Teams qualifying for the NCAA Championship must have finished within the top-eight spots at their respective regional championships. After missing the cut in 2009, Auburn finished in a tie for third at the NCAA East Regional to find a spot in the championship tournament.

The Tigers will be competing in the NCAA Championship for the 15th time in the team’s history and the fifth time in the last six years.

“After not making NCAA Finals last year, we had a shadow following us around all year this year,” Auburn head coach Kim Evans said. “We were ready to get to Regionals and get the job done so that we could get back in the action and out from that shadow.”

With Regionals behind them, the team will look toward the Championship and focus on the not-so-new course ahead. The Tigers played at the Country Club of Landfall at the NCAA Fall Preview, where the team finished in a tie for second — just one stroke out of the lead. Junior Cydney Clanton earned individual medalist honors at the tournament.

The familiarity with the course will be an added bonus for Auburn’s competing five — Carlie Yadloczky, Candace Schepperle, Cydney Clanton, Patricia Sanz and Haley Wilson.

Leading the way for the team will be Yadloczky, a freshman from Casselberry, Fla., and All-SEC Freshman Team member. She has finished in the top-10 in two of her last three tournaments, including a second-place finish at the NCAA East Regional. Yadloczky carded two rounds under
par during Regionals and was only one stroke out of the lead.

Following Yadloczky will be senior Schepperle, a four-time All-SEC honoree. The Birmingham native enters with a 73.64 stroke average and finished in a tie for 19th at Regionals. She is ranked as the No. 36 golfer in the nation by GolfWeek.

Holding the three-spot, Clanton owns a team-best 71.64 stroke average and is currently ranked as the No. 3 golfer in the country by GolfWeek.

Throughout the season, the North Carolina native has tallied nine top-10 and seven top-five finishes, including two individual wins. At the NCAA
Preview, she took first place after carding a 70-70-70—210 tournament.

Playing in fourth is Sanz, who has earned two top-20 finishes over the season. Rounding out the Auburn lineup is sophomore Wilson, who has taken three top-20 placements this year and two top-10 finishes.

The Tigers will be up against the toughest competition that they have faced this year. The field features 17 teams ranked in the GolfWorld/NGCA Top-25 Poll, but also includes 22 teams that Auburn has faced during the season, compiling a 59-22-3 record. Of the 22 teams, only Duke and UCLA hold winning records over the Tigers.

“The field at this tournament is incredible, there are so many teams that are capable of going out and going low at any time,” Evans said. “Overall, the strength of women’s college golf is tremendous and every team going out there thinks they can win the whole thing.”

Teams ranked in the GolfWorld/NGCA Top-25 are No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 Arizona State, No. 3 Alabama, No. 5 Duke, No. 6 Southern California, No. 7 Arizona, No. 8 Purdue, No. 10 Pepperdine, No. 12 Virginia, No. 15 Tennessee, No. 16 Vanderbilt, No. 18 Stanford, No. 22 Texas A&M, No. 23 New Mexico, No. 24 Florida State and No. 25 Texas Christian. Four other teams are receiving votes in the GolfWorld/NGCA Top-25 Poll.

With the NCAA Championship taking place in Wilmington, the Tigers will have competed in five tournaments in North Carolina this season. Evans noted that the team’s playing time in the Tar Heel State is no coincidence.

“When making a schedule, you have to keep in mind what part of the country your championships are in and match it up as much as possible,” Evans said. “With NCAAs being in North Carolina, that is something we took into consideration.”

Action at the NCAA Championship is set to begin at 7 a.m. today, with tee times off the Nos. 1 and 10 tees. Auburn will begin at 11:30 a.m. from the No. 10 tee alongside Purdue and Texas.