AUBURN, Ala. — The LSU women’s golf team shot the low round of the day Sunday to finish fourth in the opening event of the season, the Auburn Tiger-Derby Invitational at the Auburn University Club.
LSU shot a 13-over par 301 and finished the event in a tie for fourth place with Vanderbilt at 49-over par 913. Host Auburn went wire-to-wire to win the event with a 30-over par 894 (297-293-304), 15 shots better than Mississippi State at 909. Central Florida was third, two shots better than LSU at 47-over par 911.
It was 17 shots back from LSU and Vanderbilt to sixth place Alabama at 66-over par 930.
Shreveport junior Meredith Duncan started where she left off last year, leading the Tigers with a fifth-place finish after a 1-over par 73 final round. Duncan finished at 7-over par 223, tied with Sarah Johnston of Alabama, also a Louisiana product. The pair were six shots behind the individual champion, Lina Thoren of Mississippi State at 1-over par (73-74-70).
For Duncan, an honorable mention All-America selection a year ago, it was her 10th career top 10 finish at LSU and the eighth in the last nine tournaments dating back to the final tournament of the fall season in 1999.
South Bend, Ind., senior Katy Harris finished strongly with a 2-over 74 to finish in a tie for 18th place at 13-over par 229. Lindy Hitdlebaugh, the senior from Gretna, put together three rounds in the 70s with a 76 on Sunday to finish in a tie for 21st at 15-over 231 (77-78-76). Also in the top 25 was Redmond, Wash., senior Lesley McClurg, playing her first tournament in over a year. McClurg had rounds of 76-78-78 to finish in a tie for 23rd at 16-over 232.
Tina Howard, the junior from New Zealand, finished in a tie for 43rd at 239 and Devon Day, a freshman from Greer, S.C., came home in a tie for 49th at 242.
“Overall, I thought it was a good start for us and gives us some things we need to work on,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “We had a very good finish and that gives us a good feeling going into next week’s Fall Preview tournament. We won’t have much practice time to get ready, so we’ll focus in on the good things of the final day and try to carry those over to this coming week.”
Auburn Tiger-Derby Invitational
Team Results (Par 288 – 864)
1. Auburn 297-293-304 – 894 +30; 2. Mississippi St. 297-309-303 – 909 +45; 3. Central Florida 307-298-306 – 911 +47; 4. LSU 303-309-301 – 913 +49; 4. Vanderbilt 307-302-304 – 913 +49; 6. Alabama 316-303-311 – 930 +66; 7. Florida State 313-311-311 – 935 +71; 8. North Carolina Wilmington 306-322 -309 – 937 +73; 9. South Florida 305-323 -310 -938 +74; 10. Ole Miss 316-316-310 – 942 +78; 10. Tulane 321-320-301 – 942 +78; 12. Georgia State 336-329-336 – 1,001 +137
Individual Top 5 (Par 72 – 216)
1. Lina Thoren, Miss. St., 73-74-70 – 217 +1; 2. Courtney Swaim, Auburn, 71-73-76 – 220 +4; 3. Celeste Troche, Auburn, 74-72-75 – 221 +5; 4. Nicki Cutler, Vanderbilt, 80-69-73 – 222 +6; 5. Sarah Johnston, Alabama, 77-73-73 – 223 +7; 5. Meredith Duncan, LSU, 74-76-73 – 223 +7.
LSU Scores
t5. Meredith Duncan 74-76-73 – 223 +7
t18. Katy Harris 76-79-74 – 229 +13
t21. Lindy Hitdlebaugh 77-78-76 – 231 +15
t23. Lesley McClurg 76-78-78 – 232 +16
t43. Tina Howard 84-77-78 – 239 +23
t49. Devon Day 86-74-82 – 242 +26