Three years of building and the Auburn girls golf team can finally send another golfer to the state tournament.

The Maroons' Megan Cahill placed sixth, carding an 89, at the Section III, Division I girls golf tournament May 28 and will be making the trip to Foxfire Golf Course in Baldwinsville for states.

It has been three years since a Maroon has made it to the state championship and the Auburn team has been working hard to get a golfer qualified.

“It is exciting,” Maroons head coach Donna Goddard said. “In golf it takes so long for kids to develop at this level. We have been in a building process for the past three years, finally the team is turning around again and it's on its way back up.”

Cahill was surprised by her placement in the sectional tournament, not expecting her score to be as good as it was.

“I thought I was playing really bad,” Cahill said. “The front side wasn't very good but then I picked it up a little on the back side.”

Picking up the pace is exactly what Cahill, did shooting herself into the top nine to earn a state berth.

“Qualifying for states is exactly what I wanted to do this season,” Cahill said. “It is nice to finally qualify for states after playing poorly in sectionals before. This is my third year playing and this is the best I have done yet.”

Last season, Cahill's sectionals score was 15 strokes higher and she has practiced every day in order to earn the success she has had this season.

Cahill is excited about her success so far but is thinking more about next year's goals for the team. The junior is not only hopeful for her own endeavor in this season's state championship, but also in the team's success her senior campaign.

“We had a really good season, a lot of girls really stepped up this year,” Cahill said. “The team qualified for sectionals and maybe next year two girls can go to states. Hopefully it will just keep getting better and better for the Auburn girls, there are a lot of talented golfers on the team.”

For now though Cahill has her eyes set on the state tournament as she practices diligently for the weekend.

“I am going to work on putting for sure,” Cahill said. “I am going to keep doing what I learn in lessons and hopefully it will be enough.”

Cahill is not going into the tournament without knowing some of the girls she will be competing against thanks to her experience in playing throughout the summer months.

“I play on the CNY Junior Tour in the summer so I will see some of the girls that I play there in the state tournament,” Cahill said. “It's good to have an idea of what I will be up against so I play all year and I get a lot of experience against different golfers.”

Perhaps knowing what she is up against is part of why Cahill is confident going into the biggest tournament of the year.

Or maybe she just golfs that way.

“I don't really get nervous when I play,” Cahill said. “I am just going to go there and play the best I can. I know that I have to play the best of the best so we will have to see how it goes. Anything can happen but I feel really confident. I am hitting the ball really well in practice and now it's just about concentrating on my short game. I am practicing really hard every day and I feel really good about going out there this weekend.”