AUBURN, Wash. — Brazilian sophomore Isabel Dornellas of the LSU women’s golf team continued her good early season play Monday to earn a spot in the top 10 after the first round of the NCAA Fall Preview at the Washington National Golf Club.
Dornellas, from Rio de Janeiro, fired an even par round of 72 over the difficult layout which will be the site for the 2002 NCAA Division I Women’s Championship next May, to stand in a group tied for sixth after the first round of the three-day 54-hole event. Dornellas had four birdies to go with four bogeys in her trip around the Seattle-area course.
LSU had three strong rounds on the opening day in posting a 14-over total of 302, 9 shots out of the lead and good enough for a tie for 9th place in the 24-team field which features the top 14 teams in the country. LSU was ranked 11th in the pre-season rankings.
The Tigers also counted a 2-over 74 from United States Women’s Amateur champ, Meredith Duncan, of Shreveport and a 3-over 75 from Gretna senior Lindy Hitdlebaugh. LSU also counted a 9-over 81 from Plano, Texas, freshman Brooke Shelton.
“We learned a lot about the course and overall I thought we played fairly well,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “We lost six strokes on the 10th hole (the second toughest on the course) and that could have helped us tremendously in our team score. Meredith was 4-over and birdied two of the last four holes so we really fought things and we were almost very close to the lead.”
Ohio State in the morning group and Tennessee in the afternoon waves were the class of the first day with Tennessee the first round leader at 5-over 293, one shot better than Ohio State at 294. Southern California is third after finishing at 10-over 298 with Arizona State (299) in fourth with Auburn in fifth at 300. Duke, Michigan State and Tulsa are tied for sixth at 301 with Georgia and Arizona in the group tied for ninth with LSU.
In the individual competition, Virada Nirapathpongporn of Duke and Young-A Yang of Tennessee are tied for the lead at 2-under 70, one shot ahead of Emily Bastel of Michigan State, Lindsay Knowlton of Ohio State and Lorena Ochoa of Arizona.
The tournament continues through Wednesday.
NCAA Fall Preview
Washington National Golf Course – Auburn, Wash.
Team Results (Par 288)
1. Tennessee 293 +5; 2. Tennessee 294 +6; 3. Southern California 298 +10; 4. Arizona State 299 +11; 5. Auburn 300 +12; 6. Duke 301 +13; 6. Michigan State 301 +13; 6. Tulsa 301 +13; 9. Arizona 302 +14; 9. Georgia 302 +14; 9. LSU 302 +14; 12. Oklahoma State 304 +16; 12. Texas 304 +16; 12. Pepperdine 304 +16; 15. UCLA 306 +18; 16. TCU 307 +19; 16. Washington 307 +19; 18. Stanford 308 +20; 19. New Mexico State 309 +21; 20. Oregon State 313 +25; 21. Purdue 318 +30; 22 California 319 +31; 23. Oregon 324 +36; 24. Washington State 327 +39.
Indvidual Top 5 (Par 72)
1. Virada Nirapathpongporn, Duke, 70 -2; 1. Young-A Yang, Tennessee, 70 -2; 3. Emily Bastel, Michigan State 71 -1; 3. Lindsay Knowlton, Ohio State, 71 -1; 3. Lorena Ochoa, Arizona, 71 -1.
LSU Results
t6. Isabel Dornellas 36-36 – 72 E
t21. Meredith Duncan 37-37 – 74 +2
t29. Lindy Hitdlebaugh 37-38 – 75 +3
t97. Brooke Shelton 40-41 – 81 +9
t118. Devon Day 44-42 – 86 +14