PARRISH, Fla. — The last time the LSU women’s golf team won a tournament outside the state of Louisiana was February 1997 in Gainesville, Fla.
The state of Florida proved good again for LSU Tuesday as the Lady Tigers completed a wire-to-wire team victory in the Central District Regional at the River Wilderness Golf Club.
LSU had won three times since that Gainesville win, but all were in Baton Rouge, one at Fairwood Country Club in the old LSU/Fairwood Invitational in 1998 and two at the University Club in the LSU/Cleveland Golf Classic, where the Lady Tigers last team triumph came in April 2001.
This time the Lady Tigers had to find out in the final round if they could play with the lead after leading the first 36 holes from start to finish. More importantly, the 25th ranked LSU squad was asked to go shot-for-shot with second place Michigan State, ranked 16th in the Sagarin Performance Ratings.
While the scores on the final day were much higher because of strong winds in the area, but the Lady Tigers never relinquished the lead and gave LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen, in her 20th year as head coach her 26th team championship as she added to her total as the school’s winningest golf coach.
“It was a tough round,” said Bahnsen. “The win was blowing 25 to 30 miles per hour. Our team fought like crazy. They did so well. I’m really very proud of them. We are really starting to come together and now we look forward to hosting our own tournament, the LSU/Cleveland Golf Classic (March 5-7) and we go into it with a lot of momentum.”
The Tigers final round was a 22-over par 310, but it matched what the host Spartans could do and that was what was necessary to allow LSU to retain its three-stroke advantage as the final margin, 903-906. LSU was 39-over par for the three rounds. Kansas State was third at 912, with TCU fourth (915) and Arkansas (921). Arkansas, at 24th, was the other team ranked ahead of LSU entering the event.
The individual competition resulted in a three-way tie with Malinda Johnson of Wisconsin, Christa Spedding of Texas A&M and Brooke Tull tied for first at four-over par 220. Freshman Melissa Eaton moved from 13th to sixth place on the final day with a three-over 75, shooting 225 for 54 holes on three consecutive rounds of 75. LSU junior Brooke Shelton was able to get a top 10 finish with a tie for 10th at 227 (74-72-81).
LSU’s freshman Nicola Eaton, playing with her twin sister for the first time together at LSU, and sophomore Vicky Meyer finished in a group tied for 13th and Alexis Rather brought home a 21st place finish.
The Tigers now will return to face a 17-team field in the LSU/Cleveland Golf Classic at the University Club in Baton Rouge, March 5-7.
Central District Regional
Team Results (Par 288-864)
1. LSU 295-298-310 — 903 +39; 2. Michigan State 298-298-310 — 906 +42; 3. Kansas State 304-295-313 — 912 +48; 4. TCU 299-305-311 — 915 +51; 5. Arkansas 307-303-311 — 921 +57; 6. Northwestern 303-314-305 — 922 +58; 7. Texas A&M 311-309-304 — 924 +60; 8. Baylor 314-305-306 — 925 +61; 9. Texas Tech 306-307-313 — 926 +62; 10. Nebraska 306-316-317 — 939 +75; 11. Iowa State 316-306-321 — 943 +79; Wisconsin 317-317-309 — 943 +79; 13. Iowa 312-316-317 — 945 +81; 14. Indiana 329-318-310 — 957 +93; 15. Minnesota 323-330-333 — 986 +122.
Individual Top 5 Results (Par 72-216)
1. Malinda Johnson, Wisconsin, 69-75-76 — 220 +4; 1. Christa Spedding, Texas A&M, 76-72-72 — 220 +4; 1. Brooke Tull, TCU, 72-75-73 — 220 +4; 4. Alice Kim, Northwestern, 72-75-75 — 222 +6; 5. Allison Fouch, Michigan State, 74-76-74 — 224 +8.
LSU Results
T6. Melissa Eaton 75-75-75 — 225 +9
T10. Brooke Shelton 74-72-81 — 227 +11
T13. Nicola Eaton 73-77-78 — 228 +12
T13. Vicky Meyer 76-76-76 — 228 +12
T21. Alexis Rather 73-75-82 — 230 +14