COLUMBUS, Ohio — The next-to-last round of a golf tournament has had the moniker “moving day” attached to it for many years. The fifth-ranked LSU women’s golf team took that to heart in the second round Friday of the NCAA East Regional Golf Championships at the Scarlet Course.
LSU, in 11th and on the qualifying position number after the first round, posted a 10-over 298 second round total and zoomed all the way to fourth as the tightly packed first-day field began to spread itself out.
With one round remaining on Saturday, LSU stands at 25 over par 601, tied for fourth with Michigan State. The Lady Tigers are five shots out of the 596 lead of Purdue, with Northwestern at 598 and Auburn, moving from 10th to third, at 599.
More importantly, however, LSU is 12 shots to thee good of the last qualifying position, which presently belongs to Georgia at 37-over par 613. That 11th qualifying position will be the last which will advance from the East to the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships in Sunriver, Ore., in two weeks. The Tigers are trying to make it to the Division I championships for a school record third consecutive year.
LSU counted four rounds in the 70s, with the highest counting round a four-over 76. Katy Wilkinson, the junior from South Bend, recovered from the opening day 81, to post a one-over 73, to lead the team with Kenner senior Lisette Lee getting a 74, New Zealand sophomore Tina Howard a 75 and Shreveport sophomore Meredith Duncan a 76.
Howard, who finished in the top 10 in the Regional a year ago, is in a group tied for 10th at four-over 148 after shooting rounds of 73 and 75. Lee and Duncan are tied for 19th at six-over 150. The individual winner is Celeste Troche of Auburn as the freshman has posted rounds of 71-69 for a four-under 140 total. First round leader Marcy Newton followed up her five-under first-round 67 with a 79 and dropped to a tie for fifth.
“Again I am so proud of the girls,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “They just focused in and weren’t about to let this opportunity get away. This was a day we needed to make a good move and they really put it together. There really wasn’t anything wrong with the first round, but the position (11th) was because the field was just so tightly bunched together. But we can’t rest now. We’ve got to bring it home again on Saturday and make sure we don’t let anything keep us from our goal of making the Championships.”
Tulane stands in 23rd place after two rounds at 59-over par 635, 22 shots outside the 11th position final qualifying spot.
The top 12 teams will be off first on Saturday and the teams just outside the cut line will known what they need to shoot when they tee off in the afternoon wave.
NCAA EAST REGIONAL WOMEN’S GOLF
At Columbus, Ohio
Team Results (Par 288-576)
1. Purdue 295-301 — 596 +20; 2. Northwestern 299-299 — 598 +22; 3. Auburn 301-298 — 599 +23; 4. LSU 303-298 — 601; Michigan State 299-302 — 601 +26; 6. Duke 300-302 — 602 +26; 7. Tennessee 300 306 — 606 +30; 8. Wake Forest 310-297 — 607 +31; 9. Florida 300-309 — 609 +33; 10. Central Florida 299-311 — 610 +34; 11. Georgia 316-297 — 613 +37; 12. South Florida 309-305 — 614 +38; 13. Ohio State 299-316 — 615 +39; 14. Furman 317-299 — 616 +40; Campbell 311-305 — 616 +40; Mississippi State 322-294 — 616 +40; 17. South Carolina 306-314 — 620 +44; 18. Vanderbilt 318-304 — 622 +46; 19. Penn State 304-319 — 623 +47; 20. Kentucky 312-312 — 624 +48; 21. Indiana 306-319 — 625 +49; 22. North Carolina 300-329 — 629 +53; 23. Tulane 317-318 — 635 +59; 24. Arkansas 323-315 — 638 +62.
Top 5 Individual Results (Par 72-144)
1. Celeste Troche, Auburn, 71-69 — 140 -4; 2. Kari Damron, Purdue, 68-75 — 143 -1; 3. Kasey Gant, Michigan State, 70-75 –145 +1; Sharron O’Neill, Campbell, 76-69 — 145 +1; 5. Marcy Newton, North Carolina, 67-79 — 146 +2; Beth Bauer, Duke, 74-72 — 146 +2; Lisa Strom, Ohio State, 72-74 — 146 +2.
LSU Results
t10. Tina Howard 73-75 — 148 +4
t19. Lisette Lee 76-74 — 150 +6
t19. Meredith Duncan 74-76 — 150 +6
t46. Katy Wilkinson 81-73 — 154 +10
t92. Lindy Hitdlebaugh 80-80 — 160 +16