BATON ROUGE — Second-ranked Duke shot an 8-under-par 280 to take a five-stoke lead over the field, while the LSU women’s golf team slipped to 12th place after two rounds of the 2002 NCAA East Regional Women’s Golf Championship at the University Club on Friday.
The Lady Tigers finished the middle round of play with a 12-over 300, three shots more than Thursday’s opening-round score. LSU (21-over 597) stands two shots out of eighth place, the cut line for teams to advance to the NCAA Championships.
Duke’s two-round total of 5-under 571 puts the Blue Devils ahead first-round leader and No. 12-ranked Florida, which dropped to second place (even-par 576) after a 2-over 290. Top-ranked Auburn (4-over 580), Wake Forest (5-over 581), South Florida (9-over 585), South Carolina (15-over 591) and Vanderbilt (16-over 592) round out the top seven. Furman, Georgia and Tulane are tied for the eighth and final advancing spot at 19-over 595. Memphis is one shot better than LSU in 11th place at 20-over 596.
Duke’s Leigh Anne Hardin tied the women’s tournament course record with a 5-under 67 to take the individual lead at 6-under 138, one shot ahead of Auburn’s CelesteTrouche who was 2-under on Friday and 5-under for the tournament. LSU’s Meredith Duncan was even-par and remains at 4-under along with South Florida’s Jameica Duncombe. Meaghan Francella of Memphis (3-under 141), Courtney Swaim of Auburn (2-under 142), Whitney Code of Florida and Candy Hanneman of Duke (1-under 143) are the only other golfers under par.
LSU sophomore Isabel Dornellas improved four shots on Friday and finished at 3-over 75 along with Lindy Hitdlebaugh. Brooke Shelton shot her second straight 78 for LSU’s final counting score. Devon Day improved by one shot to 7-over 79.
Conditions were again favorable for scoring at the University Club, as the winds were light for the majority of the day. However, temperatures in the mid-90s made for an arduous loop of the course. The weather should remain the same for the final round.