BATON ROUGE — This year’s 20th edition of the LSU/Cleveland Golf Classic might well be called a dress rehearsal for this year’s Southeastern Conference Women’s Golf Championships.
Three top 12 teams from the SEC head of field of 11 teams which will take part in the three-day, 54-hole event, being conducted for the second time at the team’s home course at the University Club.
Auburn enters ranked fifth in the latest GolfWeek/Sagarin Performance Index, with Georgia ranked seventh and the host LSU Lady Tigers in 12th. In all, six teams in the field are ranked in the top 50 with Alabama ranked 29th, South Florida 30th and Mississippi State 41st.
Joining those six teams in the field are Tulane, UNC Wilmington, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Alabama-Birmingham and Ole Miss.
Last year, LSU beat South Florida by 31 shots in the inaugural LSU Classic at the University Club. Wind and weather played a bit of havoc with play, especially in the second round. But this year’s competitors may find some of the best weather in years for the event with temperatures in the mid-80s. The course has also matured nicely since last year’s event and should provide an interesting challenge.
“The course is in wonderful shape and I’m not going to worry about the weather,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “We are very excited about this field and the teams coming in and this will be a good test as we get ready for the league championships in two weeks.”
The Lady Tigers are coming off a very good third place finish in Hawaii eight days ago in the Dr. Donnis Thompson Rainbow Wahine, two shots behind No. 2 Arizona for second and five shots out of the winning total of Oklahoma State.
Katy Harris, the LSU senior from South Bend, Ind., finished third in the event on the heels of finishing second in South Carolina, losing in a playoff for first place.
Five of the nation’s top 20 golfers are expected to tee it up this weekend as well, with LSU’s Harris ranked 11th in the country, while Shreveport junior Meredith Duncan is ranked 14th.
Auburn sophomore Celeste Troche is ranked fourth in the nation, with three tournament wins and a 71.88 strokes per round. Auburn as a team has five victories.
Summer Sirmons of Georgia is ranked 12th in the country, with teammate Reilley Rankin at present 16th in the rankings since coming back earlier this season from a year off following a serious summer back injury in 1999.
The Tigers will keep the same team lineup they used in Hawaii with senior Lesley McClurg, junior Lindy Hitdlebaugh and freshman Isabel Dornellas joining Harris and Duncan. Missy Ballew, Erin Sarver and Devon Day will play in the individual competition, representing LSU.
“We had a great tournament in Hawaii and hopefully that will propel us in to another good performance this week,” said Bahnsen.
LSU will play with Auburn and Alabama on the first day and will play in the last wave teeing off No. 1, beginning at 9:15 a.m. The first groups on Friday and Saturday will tee off both the first and 10th tees at 8:30 a.m. and at 8 a.m. on Sunday.
Admission to watch the tournament is free. Updates during the round will be available on the Internet at www.LSUsports.net.