SUNRIVER, Ore. LSU sophomore Meredith Duncan, who was 116th in the individual competition after the first day of play in the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships, fired an even-par round of 72 on Saturday to finish in a tie for seventh place overall.
It is the second best individual finish for any LSU golfer in the championships, topped only by the third place finish of Kristi Coats in 1991 when Coats was competing in the individual competition only.
As a team, LSU on a blustery, rainy day in Central Oregon, would post a 15-over par score of 303, giving the nation’s sixth-ranked golf team a 72-hole total of 1,216, good enough for a tie for 10th place for the second consecutive year. LSU has finished in the top 10 in its last five team appearances in the tournament (1986, 1996, 1998, 1999).
Duncan posted a 10-over par score of 82 on the first day of the competition and before the sun light faded, was seen on the driving range working on her game. She was even forced to use some of her own golf balls as the maintenance crew figured no one would want to practice after such a late finish on the first day and packed in all but a few range balls laying around in various areas.
“The first day was such a blur,” Duncan said Saturday after completing her round. “I went out on the range and knew what I was doing wrong. I realized the second day that I was hitting it very good and I knew I had the ability to shoot par or better. I hadn’t had a tournament where I had shot par or better over three rounds. I knew after the 72 in the second round I could do it. I am extremely happy with how it all turned out.”
The Tigers also got a three-over 75 from Lisette Lee in her final collegiate round at LSU and counted a 76 from Tina Howard and an 80 from Katy Wilkinson to get the final team total.
Scores were extremely high on the final day with Arizona, one under after 54 holes, posted a 23-over 311 on the final round to finish at 1,174. That was still good enough to beat Stanford by 21 strokes for the team title. Along with LSU, three other Southeastern Conference teams would finish in the top 10 with Tennessee fifth (54 over), Auburn sixth (58 over) and Georgia seventh (59 over).
LSU’s 303 total was the fifth lowest round on the final afternoon.
“Well, you can look back at our first round and say we left a lot of strokes on the course,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “But as a coach, I can only look at what they did over this entire week and say it was a very good week. They battled back on Thursday, rallied like pros on the back nine Friday and then battled the conditions in which some other teams folded (Saturday). That’s all I can ask of them. It’s another top 10 for our golf program and that is a nice streak to keep going.”
“We’re going to miss Lisette (Lee) very much. She has meant an awful lot to this program. And for Meredith Duncan to put on the performance she did this week is something special. To not give up, make the necessary adjustments, and then post those numbers on this course says a lot about her as an individual. This whole team had a great season and although we will miss Lisette, we have a good nucleus returning and we will again set our sights to return here for a fourth straight year in 2001.”
Individually, Jenna Daniels and Julia Kraschinski of Arizona were tied for the individual lead entering the final round at six-under par. Daniels posted a five-over 77 to win with a 72-hole total of one-under par 287. Kraschinski shot an 80 in the final round and finished at two-over 290.
NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Crosswater Country Club Sunriver, Ore.
Top 15 Team Results (Par 288-1,152)
1. Arizona 299-285-281-311 1175 +23; 2. Stanford 301-298-297-300 1196 +44; 3. Texas 296-308-291-303 1198 +46; 4. Southern California 305-291-297-306 1199 +47; 5. Tennessee 301-298-306-301 1206 +54; 6. Auburn 302-302-300-306 1210 +58; 7. Georgia 296-303-296 -316 1211 +59; 8. Pepperdine 302-312-296-303 1213 +61; 9. Purdue 298-303-307-307 1215 +63; 10. LSU 313-298-302-303 1216 +64; 11. New Mexico State 304-312-295-306 1217 +65; 11. Oregon 295-303-297-322 — 1217 +65; 11. Arizona State 315-305-297-300 — 1217 +65; 14. Duke 303-299-296-320 1218 +66; 15. San Jose State 308-302-306-309 1225 +73.
Individual Top 5 (Par 72-288)
1. Jenna Daniels, Arizona, 73-69-68-77 287 -1; 2. Julia Kraschinski, Arizona, 73-67-70-80 290 +2; 3. Marta Prieto, Wake Forest, 77-70-71-74 292 +4; 4. Danielle Downey, Auburn, 71-74-72-77 294 +6; 5. Stephanie Keever, Stanford, 76-75-72-72 295 +7; 5. Leila Chartrand, Southern California, 75-70-74-76 295 +7.
LSU Scores
t7. Meredith Duncan 82-72-70-72 296 +8
t54. Lisette Lee 77-75-79-75 306 +18
t59. Tina Howard 78-76-77-76 307 +19
t87. Katy Wilkinson 78-79-76-80 313 +23
t94. Lindy Hitdlebaugh 80-75-81-81 317 +27