BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s golf team remained in second place on day two of the LSU/Cleveland Classic, shooting an 18-over par 306 in round two to enter the third and final round just three shots out of the lead at the University Club.
“We started off in the morning pretty good, I mean we were really on fire, but we made a few errors which cost us,” said LSU head coach Karen Bahnsen.
“I really feel that we will come through tomorrow. We are a young team but we are just that close and we know it,” said Bahnsen. “We are in contention so that is good.”
Tulane leads the 17-team field after 36 holes, standing at 28-over 604. The Green Wave shot an 8-over 296 on Saturday, tied for the best round of the day with Ole Miss. The Rebels are currently in third place at 33-over 609. North Carolina is in fourth place at 35-over 611 while Alabama, the leader after Friday’s first round, round out the top five at 38-over 614. Tulane finished second in last season’s edition of the event behind champion UNC-Wilmington.
North Carolina’s Ashley Prange is the individual leader entering the final round after shooting a 1-under 71 on Saturday. Prange is at even-par for the tournament after shooting a 1-over 73 in Friday’s first round. LSU junior Brooke Shelton fired an even-par 72 and is tied for second place at 2-over 146 with South Carolina’s Adrienne Gautreaux.
“I was really pleased with how Brooke (Shelton) played today, she really had a good round,” said Bahnsen.
Sophomore Vicky Meyer, playing as an individual, shot a 1-over 73 in round two and is in a tie for ninth at 7-over 151 with two other players. Freshman Melissa Eaton struggled in her round, shooting an 80, but is still at 8-over 152 and alone in 12th place. Eaton began the tournament with an even-par 72. LSU’s two other freshmen; Nicola Eaton and Alexis Rather are tied for 26th place at 12-over 156 with teammate Devon Day. Senior Isabel Dornellas is in 36th place at 14-over 158.
The weather was absolutely perfect today, and the course played longer today due to all the rain that we had last night,” said Bahnsen.
The Tigers are looking for their first wins at the Cleveland Classic since claiming back-to-back titles in 2000 and 2001. LSU is coming off a victory in the Central District Regional on Feb. 24 in Parrish, Fla.
LSU will tee off at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday in a shotgun start. The Tigers are paired with Tulane and Ole Miss as the top three teams in the standings.
TEAM SCORES (Par 576)
1. Tulane 308-296 — 604 +28; 2. LSU 301-306 — 607 — +31; 3. Ole Miss 313-296 — 609 +33; 4. North Carolina 306-305 — 611 +35; 5. Alabama 299-315 — 614 +38; 6. UNC-Wilmington 304-311 — 615 +39; 7. Furman 310-308 — 618 +42; 8. South Carolina 305-321 — 626 +50; 9. Louisville 315-317 — 632 +56; 10. Mississippi State 317-319 — 636 +60; 11. North Carolina State 328-314 — 642 +66; 12. Birmingham-Southern 319-324 — 643 +67; 13. Augusta State 330-329 — 659 +83; 14. Kentucky 330-330 — 660 +84; 15. UAB 330-332 — 662 +86; 16. Memphis 332-349 — 681 +105; 17. Winthrop 340-350 — 690 +114
TOP 15 INDIVIDUALS (Par 144)
1. Ashley Prange, North Carolina, 73-71 — 144 E; t2. Brooke Shelton, LSU, 74-72 — 146 +2; t2. Adrienne Gautreaux, South Carolina, 72-74 — 146 +2; 4. Nikki Hadd, Ole Miss, 76-72 — 148 +4; t5. Darby Sligh, Alabama, 74-75 — 149 +5; t5. Amelie Farrah, UNC-Wilmington, 71-78 — 149 +5; t7. Lindsay Hulwick, Tulane, 74- 76 — 150 +6; t7. Megan George, Alabama, 72-78 — 150 +6; t9. Meaghan Francella, North Carolina, 75-76 — 151 +7; t9. Mary Ellen Jacobs, Tulane, 78-73 — 151 +7; t9. Vicky Meyer, LSU, 78-73 — 151 +7; 12. Melissa Eaton, LSU, 72-80 — 152 +8; t13. Adrienne White, Ole Miss, 78-75 — 153 +9; t13. Monique Gesualdi, Furman, 78-75 — 153 +9
LSU SCORES
T2. Brooke Shelton 74-72 — 146 +2
12. Melissa Eaton 72-80 — 152 +8
T26. Alexis Rather 76-80 — 156 +12
T26. Nicola Eaton 79-77 — 156 +12
36. Isabel Dornellas 81-77 — 158 +14
TULANE SCORES
T7. Lindsay Hulwick 74-76 — 150 +6
T9. Mary Ellen Jacobs 78-73 — 151 +7
T15. Alexis Wooster 78-76 — 154 +10
T30. Carolin Landmann 78-79 — 157 +13
WD: Liliana Alvarez