Clemson, S.C. — The Clemson women’s golf team is set to compete in the Evans Derby Experience hosted by Auburn Saturday through Monday at the par 72, 6,250 Saugahatchee Country Club.
The 54-hole tournament will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday. Teams will begin on No. 1 and No. 10 each of the three rounds. In Saturday’s opening round, Clemson will go off of No. 10 beginning at 8:30 a.m. and will play in a group with Kent State and Baylor.
Clemson, which ranks 32nd nationally, will be joined in the 14-team field by five top 10 teams in second-ranked Texas, third-ranked Duke, seventh-ranked Florida, eighth-ranked Arkansas and ninth-ranked South Carolina. The field also includes four other top 25 teams in No. 11 Florida State, No. 13 Auburn, No. 14 Kent State and 18th-ranked Alabama. The 36th-ranked Louisville Cardinals, No. 39 Baylor, No. 41 Ole Miss and 45th-ranked Mississippi State will complete the field.
Kelley Hester’s lineup for the Evans Derby Experience includes lone senior Alice Hewson, junior Ana Paula Valdes, and freshmen Gracyn Burgess, Ivy Shepherd, and Alexandra Swayne.
The Tigers are led by Hewson and Valdes, both with an individual medalist honor this season. Hewson picked up her fourth career individual win at the ICON Invitational with a nine-under par 207. The England native, currently ranked 47th by Golfweek, has been invited to play in the upcoming Augusta National Women’s Amateur in April. She leads the team in stroke average (71.44) and rounds under par (11).
Valdes won her first collegiate tournament this fall with co-medalist honors at the Battle at the Beach. The native of Morelia, Mexico set a new career high in birdies at the Briar’s Creek Invitational earlier this week, where she finished second with nine-under par 207. Valdes enters the weekend with a 72.05 stroke average, third best on the team and leads the Tigers in birdies with 67.
Live scoring will be available on golfstat.com.
