GREENVILLE, S.C. — For Meredith Duncan, the LSU senior golfer who is the United States Amateur Champion, a collegiate All-American and the No. 1 ranked Amateur in the country, there was one thing missing from her resume’. A victory in a college golf tournament for LSU.
That was taken care of Sunday as Duncan went wire-to-wire to claim individual honors in the Lady Paladin Invitational at the Furman University Golf Club Sunday. Duncan’s first collegiate title makes her the 12th player in LSU women’s golf history to score an Indvidual victory and it is the 27th individual title earned under the coaching of Karen Bahnsen at LSU.
Duncan, up two shots over Nuria Clau of Wake Forest, fired a 1-over 73 on the final day to finish at even par 216 (72-71-73). Clau finished three-shots back at 3-over 219.
The Lady Tigers also had a good finish to its fall season with a third place effort in the 21-team competition. LSU had its best round of the event, a 13-over 301, to finish in a solid third place at 45-over par 909.
Auburn won the championship with a 29-over par 893, four shots over Wake Forest at 33-over. It was those three teams in position from start to finish with Florida rallying to get fourth, six shots back of LSU at 51-over par.
On the final day, LSU counted a 77 from Lindy Hitdlebaugh, who finished in a tie for 14th at 11-over 227. Isabel Dornellas had a 76 and the Tigers got a big help in the final round from Erin Sarver who struggled in the first two rounds but came back to shoot a 3-over 75 to aid the team total.
“I’m so happy for Meredith,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “You know she wanted to get this monkey off her back. It’s not easy playing with the recognition and expectations put on her, but she responded again beautifully and so did the whole team. I’m very pleased with how we finished and look forward to the spring with two events at our home course in Baton Rouge and some tournaments at places we have consistently done well in.”
The spring schedule of women’s golf begins at the end of February.
Lady Paladin Invitational
Furman University Golf Course
Team Results (Par 288-864)
1. Auburn 299-300-294 – 893 +29; 2. Wake Forest 299-302-296 – 897 +33; 3. LSU 302-306-301 – 909 +45; 4. Florida 312-299-304 – 915 +51; 5. Vanderbilt 308-303-305 – 916 +52; 6. Purdue309-311-299 – 919 +55; 7. TCU 304-306-310 – 920 +56; 7. Ohio State 302-316-302 – 920 +56; 9. Michigan State 311-303-308 – 922 +58; 10. Furman 310-316-301 – 927 +63; 11. North Carolina 314-313-305 – 932 +68; 12. Tulane 309-323-301 – 933 +69; 13. Louisville 316-315-303 – 934 +70; 14. South Carolina 325-310-304 – 939 +75; 15. Memphis 321-317-307 – 945 +81; 16. Coastal Carolina 326-317-310 – 953 +89; 17. Charleston 331-320-315 – 966 +102; 18. North Carolina-Greensboro 334-320-320 – 974 +110; 19. Winthrop 326-322-329 – 977 +13; 20. Appalachian State 351-350-344 – 1045 +181; 21. Wofford 360-364-334 – 1058 +194.
Indvidual Top 5 (Par 72-216)
1. Meredith Duncan, LSU, 72-71-73 – 216 E; 2. Nuria Clau, Wake Forest, 72-73-74 – 219 +3; 3. Danielle Downey, Auburn, 75-72-75 – 222 +6; 4. Emily Bastel, Michigan State, 76-73-74 – 223 +7; Deborah Means, Wake Forest, 75-73-75 – 223 +7; 4. Diana Ramage, Auburn, 75-72-72 – 223 +7; 4. Country Wood. Vanderbilt, 75-74-74 – 223 +7
LSU Results
1. Meredith Duncan 72-71-73 – 216 E
t14. Lindy Hitdlebaugh 76-74-77 – 227 +11
t27. Isabel Dornellas 75-80-76 – 231 +15
t67. Brook Shelton 79-81-80 – 240 + 24
t92. Erin Sarver 84-91-85 – 250 +34
103. Devon Day 85-85-87 – 257 +41