Women’s Golf Rises to Second at NCAA Auburn Regional

AUBURN, Ala. – The University of Houston Women's golf program overcame a challenging start to rise to second place, and sophomore Moa Svedenskiold grabbed the individual lead following the Second Round of the NCAA Auburn Regional at Auburn University Club on Tuesday afternoon.

As a team, the seventh-seeded Cougars posted a score of 293 to better their First-Round total by five strokes and finished with a two-day total of 591.

Starting off No. 10 on the 6,456-yard, par-72 course, Houston stood at +13 with only two birdies through the first five holes as a team.

Fortunately, the Cougars erupted to play the final four holes at -4 with seven birdies. Svedenskiold and senior Nicole Abelar each drained back-to-back birdies while sophomore Alexa Saldana drained three straight birdies on Nos. 15-17.

A member of the Big 12 Championships All-Tournament Team in late April, Svedenskiold drained four birdies with only bogey in Tuesday's Second Round and moved atop the individual leaderboard at 3-under 141.

The Halmstad, Sweden, native opened the day with three straight pars before making birdie at the par-5 13^th hole. After two more pars and back-to-back birdies on Nos. 16-17, Svedenskiold overcame her lone bogey of the day at No. 1 with five straight pars, her final birdie of the day on the par-5 seventh hole and consecutive pars.

She stood one shot ahead of Auburn teammates Ana Davis and Megan Schofill and joined with South Carolina's Louis Rydqvist as the only student-athletes to finish under par through 36 holes.

Saldana joined Svedenskiold among the Top-15 leaders and was tied for 11^th at 147. Abelar and junior Hyeonji Kang were tied for 37^th at 154 while freshman Maelynn Kim was tied for 44^th at 157.

Host and second-ranked Auburn held the team lead at 577 with North Carolina (592), Oregon (595), Oregon (596), Tulsa (596), South Carolina (598), Miami (Fla.) (611) Michigan (615) and East Tennessee State (618) completing the Top 10.

The Top-Five teams and top individual not on an advancing team advance to the NCAA Championships.

The NCAA Auburn Regional wraps up with the Final Round beginning at 8 a.m., Wednesday.

LIVE SCORING
Fans can follow live scoring at the NCAA Auburn Regional on Golfstat by clicking here.

TEE TIMES
For Wednesday's Final Round, Houston will compete in groups with student-athletes from Auburn and North Carolina.

The Cougars will tee off No. 1 at 8 a.m., Wednesday, with Kim starting and Kang (8:11 a.m.), Abelar (8:22 a.m.), Saldana (8:33 a.m.) and Svedenskiold (8:44 a.m.) following.

Fans can find complete tee times and pairings on GolfStat by clicking here.

NCAA REGIONAL HISTORY
This is the eighth NCAA Regional appearance in the young history of Houston Women's Golf. It also marks the ninth straight season Houston will be represented in the NCAA postseason after Annie Kim competed as an individual at the 2022 NCAA Franklin Regional.

This marks the second straight year Houston has competed as a No. 7 seed at an NCAA Regional, tying with the 2017-18 team for the highest seeding in school history.

Abelar will compete in the third NCAA Regional of her career with the last two coming with the Cougars. Saldana and Svedenskiold will tee off in their second NCAA Regionals while Kang and Kim will make their NCAA debuts.

UP NEXT
The top five teams and top individual not on an advancing team at each NCAA Regional site advance to the NCAA Championships set for May 17-22 at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.

SUPPORT YOUR COOGS
Fans can make a direct impact on the success of Houston Women's Golf by supporting Linking Coogs – UH's NIL collective – and by joining the P.A.R. 4 Club, which provides financial support directly to Houston Women's Golf for needs beyond its operating budget.

STAY CONNECTED
Fans can receive updates by following @UHCougarWGolf on X (formerly known as Twitter) and catch up with the latest news and notes on the team by clicking LIKE on the team's Facebook page at UHCougarWGolf or on the team's Instagram page at UHCougarWGolf.

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