NASHVILLE — The LSU women’s golf team shot the third best round of the day to move up to a seventh place finish in the first Mason Rudolph Championships held here Tuesday at The Legends Club.
The Tigers moved up to seventh place from 10th with a first-round 313 raising the team score. LSU played the last 36 holes at 301 and 303 to finish at 54-over par 917. Ohio State rallied from behind to win the inaugural event over host Vanderbilt as the Lady Buckeyes posted a 10-under par score of 278 over the final 18 to finish the 54 holes at 3-under 861. Vanderbilt posted a 10-over 298 and finished second at 13-over 877. Furman took third at 23-over 887.
LSU sophomore Isabel Dornellas, who had two top 14 finishes for her best tournaments of her freshman campaign, equaled that in her first tournament of the year, finishing in a tie for 14th at 8-over par 224. The Rio De Janeiro product had rounds of 76-72-76.
Jennifer Perri of Furman won the event with a 54-hole total of 6-under par 210 (71-68-70). Nicki Cutler of Vanderbilt was second at 3-under 213.
Shreveport senior Meredith Duncan, the U.S. Amateur Champion, settled in after her first round 79 on Monday morning and followed it with a 74 Monday afternoon and an even par 72 over the final 18 holes to finish in a tie for 22nd at 9-over 225.
LSU on the final day also counted a 77 from Dallas freshman Brooke Shelton and a 78 from the team’s other senior, Lindy Hitdlebaugh of Gretna.
“We made a nice comeback and we did some good things over the final two rounds,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “It’s early in the season and we came out trying to do everything in one round on Monday and got behind and started pressing. We’ll get back and work on a few things before we leave for the Preview.”
The Lady Tigers are scheduled to take part in the NCAA Fall Preview in Auburn, Wash., next week, Sept. 24-26.
MASON RUDOLPH CHAMPIONSHIPS
LEGENDS CLUB ? NASHVILLE, Tenn.
Team Results (Par 288-864)
1. Ohio State 291-292-278 ? 861 -3; 2. Vanderbilt 295-284-298 ? 877 +13; 3. Furman 296-288-303 ? 887 +23; 4. Alabama 298-298-303 ? 899 +35; 5. North Carolina 304-292-306 ? 902 +38; 6. Wake Forest 304-298-307 ? 909 +45; 7. LSU 313-301-303 ? 917 +53; 8. Tulane 306-302-310 ? 918 +54; 9. Florida 304-307-308 ? 919 +55; 10. Florida State 295-315-311 ? 921 +57; 11. Ole Miss 311-305-313 ? 929 +65; 12. Mississippi St. 318-302-312 ? 932 +68; 13. North Carolina State 315-310-314 ? 939 +75; 14. UNLV 327-310-327 ? 964 +100.
Individual Top 5 (Par 72-216)
1. Jennifer Perri, Furman, 71-69-70 ? 210 -6; 2. Nicki Cutler, Vanderbilt, 74-68-71 ? 213 -3; 3. Natalie Aber, Ohio State, 72-74-68 ? 214 -2; 4. Mollie Fankhauser, Ohio State, 73-75-67 ? 215 -1; 5. Lindsay Knowlton, Ohio State, 72-71-74 ? 217 +1.
LSU Scores
t14. Isabel Dornellas, 76-72-76 ? 224 +8
t22. Meredith Duncan, 79-74-72 ? 225 +9
t40. Brooke Shelton, 80-76-77 ? 233 +17
t51. Lindy Hitdlebaugh, 79-79-78 ? 236 +20
t65. Devon Day, 81-81-80 ? 242 +26
71. Erin Sarver, 79-79-87 ? 245 +29