BATON ROUGE — LSU’s 13th-ranked women’s golf team posted the eighth-best 54-hole total in school history to take home a strong fifth-place finish behind the nation’s four top-ranked women’s teams Sunday in the Golf World/Palmetto Dunes Invitational.
LSU posted an 11-over par round of 299 on the final day to finish the three-day event at 28-over par 892. Second-ranked Arizona won the tournament with an 11-over par score of 875, one shot better than top-ranked Duke (876). Fourth-ranked Arizona State finished at 24-over 888, two shots ahead of third-ranked Southern California (890). After LSU, it was another 11 shots back to Texas in sixth.
Shreveport sophomore Meredith Duncan and South Bend, Ind., junior Katy Wilkinson both posted top 10 finishes, tying for sixth place at 3-over par 219. For Duncan it is the second of the fall season and for Wilkinson it is the 10th of her LSU career.
Duncan posted rounds of 70-76-73 for her total, while Wilkinson recorded rounds of 74-70-75.
LSU senior Lisette Lee of Kenner also had another good total, finished at 6-over par 222 (72-74-76). Gretna sophomore Lindy Hitdlebaugh had LSU’s final counting score of the final round, a 3-over 75 and finished in 39th place at 18-over 234.
Jenna Daniels of Arizona and Beth Bauer, after shooting duplicate 71s the first two days, matched each other again on Sunday with 5-under 67s to finish in a tie at 7-under 209 before Daniels won the competition on the first extra hole of sudden death.
“It was a great weekend for us,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “We again showed we can compete with these teams. The second round hurt us some, but I’m still very proud of the way the girls played. This is a nice way to finish against the field when you look at the teams behind us. We’ll come back after the holidays and get back to work and prepare for the ultimate goal, getting back to the NCAA Championships and seeing these teams again.”
Included in the spring schedule for the Tigers will be the first edition of the new LSU Invitational at the University Club as the tournament changes site and date, moving to April.
Golf World/Palmetto Dunes
At Hilton Head, S.C.
Team Results (Par 288-564)
1. Arizona 293-295-287 — 875 +11: 2. Duke 291-294-291 — 876 +12; 3. Arizona State 299-300-289 — 888 +24; 4. Southern California 300-297-293 — 890 +26; 5. LSU 290-303-299 — 892 +28; 6. Texas 304-306-293 903 +39; 7. Stanford 306-308-295 — 909 +45; 8. Tulsa 304-305-308 917 +53; 9. Georgia 301-312-306 — 919 +55; 10. Pepperdine 308-308-308 — 924 +60; 11. TCU 304-314-313 — 931 +67; 12. Furman 322-328-306 956 +92.
Individual Top 5 Results (Par 72-216)
1. Jenna Daniels, Arizona, 71-71-67 — 209 -7 (won playoff); 2. Beth Bauer, Duke, 71-71-67 — 209 -7; 3. Candie Kung, USC, 72-71-71 214 -2; 4. Miriam Nagl, Arizona State, 73-76-69 — 218 +2; Tamie Durdin, Pepperdine, 71-76-71 — 218 +2.
LSU Results
t6. Meredith Duncan 70-76-73 — 219 +3
t6. Katy Wilkinson 74-70-75 — 219 +3
t13. Lisette Lee 72-74-76 — 222 +6
39. Lindy Hitdlebaugh 74-85-75 — 234 +18
58. Rebecca Barrow 84-83-86 — 253 +37