BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s golf team shot a final-round 18-over par 306 on Sunday in the 23rd-annual LSU/Cleveland Golf Classic to finish third out of 17 teams at the University Club.
North Carolina, led by medalist Ashley Prange, won the team title, shooting a 39-over 903 including a 4-over 292 in Sunday’s third and final round to place three strokes ahead of runner-up Tulane. Prange finished at 1-under 215, shooting consecutive 1-under 71s in the final two rounds of the tournament. UNC was 7-under par on the back nine on Sunday, led by Prange who was 3-under down the stretch. North Carolina entered the final round seven strokes back of Tulane, who finished Saturday as the overall leader. Tulane earned its second-straight runner-up finish in the tournament.
“My team just kicked it up a notch today and played like I knew we were capable of playing and I hope this is just the first of many tournament in which we play like that,” said North Carolina head coach Sally Austin. “Ashley (Prange) was incredible. She is a tough competitor and she has a lot of wins in her, and I am proud of her and how she played this round today,” said Austin.
“We have been putting in a lot of hard work as a team so it is nice to come here and win,” said Prange. “We have had to overcome some real tough weather back home and just grind it out, and obviously it paid off.”
The Tigers, who entered the final 18 holes in second and trailing leader Tulane by three shots, finished 10 shots behind North Carolina. Junior Brooke Shelton paced the Tigers, shooting a 7-over 223 to tie for third place, recording her third-straight top-10 finish. The Plano, Texas native also finished in the top 10 at the Cleveland Classic for the second-straight season as she tied for ninth at last season’s event. Shelton tied for 13th as a freshman in 2002. The 3rd-place finish is a career-best and now owns five-career top-10 finishes.
“We came in today just three shots out of the lead behind Tulane and I thought my girls came out and played like a very young team, which they are,” said LSU head coach Karen Bahnsen. “As hard as they tried not to play to play to win it, that is what they found themselves doing because they started to force it a little bit.”
“I am not at all disappointed because this is was all a big learning experience for our team, which is great because ultimately we are trying to get ready for the SEC Championships next month,” said Bahnsen.
Sophomore Vicky Meyer, competing as an individual, tied for 12th place as she shot an 11-over 227 to record her second-consecutive top-20 finish in the Cleveland Golf Classic. Freshman Melissa Eaton shot a 13-over 229 to tie for 17th place. Senior Devon Day, also playing as an individual, tied for 19th place at 14-over 230. True freshmen Nicola Eaton, twin sister of Melissa, and Alexis Rather, each shot a 16-over 232 to tie for 23rd place. Senior Isabel Dornellas shot a 21-over 237 to tie for 36th place.
Ole Miss, third after Saturday’s play, finished fourth at 51-over 915. Junior Nikki Hadd, who tied for third place, led the Lady Rebels. Furman rounded out the top five, finishing at 58-over 922. Sarah Johnston shot a 9-over 225, including a final-round 1-under 71, to tie for sixth place.
LSU will next participate in the Lady Gamecock Classic March 12-14 in Columbia, S.C. The Lady Tigers will host the 2004 SEC Championships April 16-18 at the University Club.
TEAM SCORES (Par 864)
1. North Carolina 306-305-292 — 903 +39; 2. Tulane 308-296-302 — 906 +42; 3. LSU 301-306-306 — 913 +49; 4. Ole Miss 313-296-306 — 915 +51; 5. Furman 310-308-304 — 922 +58; 6. Alabama 299-315-312 — 926 +62; 7. South Carolina 305-321-302 — 928 +64; 8. UNC-Wilmington 304-311-314 — 929 +65; 9. Louisville 315-317-306 — 938 +74; 10. Mississippi State 317-319-310 — 946 +82; 11. North Carolina State 328-314- 312 — 954 +90; 12. Birmingham-Southern 319-324-312 — 955 +91; t13. Kentucky 330-330-323 — 983 +119; t13. UAB 330-332-321 — 983 +119; 15. Augusta State 330-329-325 — 984 +120; 16. Memphis 332-349-321 — 1002 +138; 17. Winthrop 340-350-338 — 1028 +164
TOP 25 INDIVIDUALS (Par 216)
1. Ashley Prange, North Carolina, 73-71-71 — 215 -1; 2. Adrienne Gautreaux, South Carolina, 72-74-72 — 218 +2; t3. Meghan Francella, North Carolina, 75-76-72 — 223 +7; t3. Nikki Hadd, Ole Miss, 76-72-75 — 223 +7; t3. Brooke Shelton, LSU, 74-72-77 — 223 +7; t6. Adrienne White, Ole Miss, 78-75-72 — 225 +9; t6. Darby Sligh, Alabama, 74-75-76 — 225 +9; t6. Sarah Johnston, Furman, 80-74-71 — 225 +9; t6. Mary Ellen Jacobs, Tulane, 78-73-74 — 225 +9; t10. Katie Miller, North Carolina, 78-77-71 — 226 +10; t10. Lindsay Hulwick, Tulane, 74-76-76 — 226 +10; t12. Alexis Wooster, Tulane, 78-76-73 — 227 +11; t12. Amelie Farrah, UNC-Wilmington, 71-78-78 — 227 +11; t12. Vicky Meyer, LSU, 78-73-76 — 227 +11; t15. Beth Irwin, Mississippi State, 74-80-74 — 228 +12; t15. Megan George, Alabama, 72-78-78 — 228 +12; t17. Melissa Eaton, LSU, 72-80-77 — 229 +13; t17. Monique Gesualdi, Furman, 78-75-76 — 229 +13; t19. Katie Tewell, Louisville, 77-77-76 — 230 +14; t19. Devon Day, LSU, 78-78-74 — 230 +14; t21. Jenny Suh, Furman, 76-78-77 — 231 +15; t21. Audrey Gale, UNC-Wilmington, 79-76-76 — 231 +15; t23. Alexis Rather, LSU, 76-80-76 — 232 +16; t23. Nicola Eaton, 79-77-76 — 232 +16; 25. Meghan Little, Louisville, 75-82-76 — 233 +17
LSU SCORES
T3. Brooke Shelton 74-72-77 — 223 +7
T12. Vicky Meyer 78-73-76 — 227 +11
T17. Melissa Eaton 72-80-77 — 229 +13
T19. Devon Day 78-78-74 — 230 +14
T23. Alexis Rather 76-80-76 — 232 +16
T23. Nicola Eaton 79-77-76 — 232 +16
T36. Isabel Dornellas 81-77-79 — 237 +21
TULANE SCORES
T6. Mary Ellen Jacobs 78-73-74 — 225 +9
T10. Lindsay Hulwick 74-76-76 — 226 +10
T12. Alexis Wooster 78-76-73 — 227 +11
T30. Carolin Landmann 78-79-79 — 236 +20
WD Liliana Alvarez: WD-71-81