TUNICA, Miss. — LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen called her team a little “tight and tentative” Friday at the start of the Southeastern Conference Women’s Golf Championship.
Saturday, a relaxed, smiling quintet of golfers posted the day’s best round and moved from fifth to second and right in the hunt for its first league crown since the 1992 tournament in Baton Rouge as Auburn’s commanding first round lead was sliced to just three shots over LSU entering Sunday’s final round of the 54-hole tournament at the Tunica National Golf and Tennis Club.
The Tigers will be paired with leader Auburn and co-third place Georgia (tied with Tennessee), in the final wave of the tournament starting at 9:20 a.m. LSU has finished second three of the last five years and in the top three seven times since 1995.
LSU doubled its birdie total from Friday’s opening round from five to 11 and made some strong par saves from inside hazard lines and waste bunkers.
“We played with a lot more confidence after playing the golf course a couple of times,” said Bahnsen, in her 21st season as the LSU coach. “We were more relaxed. There was no doubt. The girls didn’t fight themselves on the course. They just went back to what we’ve been doing the last couple of tournaments and worrying about playing the golf course.”
LSU posted a five-over round of 293, the second straight year LSU has shot five-over in the second round, an improvement of 10 shots over the first 18 holes. The Lady Tigers, ranked 10th in the Golfstat rankings, posted the score on a course that Tunica National officials said had been set up harder than the first round to take advantage of the light winds, including a 40-yard addition to the treacherous par-4 18th hole.
Auburn followed its three-over round of Friday with a 14-over 302 to finish the 36 holes at 17-over 593, three shots ahead of LSU at 596. It is another seven shots back to Georgia and Tennessee at 603, 27 over par. Georgia posted a 302 score in the second round and Tennessee a 304.
“We made the putts we were looking to make (Friday),” said Bahnsen. “We didn’t get rattled and were able to make important pars and stay out of trouble.”
Two of those came from Brooke Shelton who made a saving par on the par-5 14th after having to play her second shot out of a hazard and then a par on 18 when her first short found the waste bunker that runs by the water the length of the fairway. Shelton finished with a two over 74.
Freshman Rebecca Kuhn posted the best round of the day for the Lady Tigers and the tournament with a one-under 71 with Melissa Eaton posting a 73 and the other counting score coming from Kim Eaton, a 75. Kuhn turned in her round at even par after a long birdie at the par-3 eighth, and then birdied the short par-4 10th to get to one under. After a bogey at 15, birdies at 16 and 17 put her two-under and she finished with bogey for her one-under round.
Meck is in eighth place for 36 holes at four-over 148, while Kuhn and Shelton are tied for ninth at five-over 147. Eaton is in a group in 13th place at six-over 148. Nicole Hage of Auburn (69-76) and Jessica Shipley of Tennessee (71-74) are tied for the individual lead at one-over 145.
“We have put ourselves in a very good position,” said Bahnsen. “The ultimate goal is to play the course well again on Sunday. If we are able to win, that would be a big reward for us. We just need to continue to play steady and not get rattled.”
The winner of the tournament receives the automatic bid from the Southeastern Conference to the NCAA Regional Tournaments, scheduled May 5-7.
SEC Women’s Golf Tournament — Tunica, Mississippi
Second Round Team Results (Par 288-576)
1. Auburn 291-302 — 593 +17; 2. LSU 303-293 — 596 +20; 3. Georgia 301-302 — 603 +27; 3. Tennessee 299-304 — 603 +27; 5. Arkansas 301-309 — 610 +34; 6. Florida 304-307 — 611 +35; 7. South Carolina 313-301 –614 +38; 8. Alabama 303-316 — 619 +43; 9. Kentucky 310-314 — 624 +48; 9. Vanderbilt 308-316 — 624 +48; 11. Mississippi State 330-312 — 642 +66; 12. Mississippi 321-328 — 649 +73.
Second Round Individual Results (Par 72-144)
1 Nicole Hage, Auburn, 69-76 — 143 +1; 1. Jessica Shepley, Tennessee, 71-74 — 145 +1; 3. Whitney Myers, Florida, 72-74 — 146 +2; 4. Kelly Froelich, Georgia, 74-73 — 147 +3; 4. Stacy Lewis, Arkansas, 72-7 — 147 +3; 4. Margaret Shirley, Auburn, 73-74 — 147 +3; 4. Carina Sorensen, Alabama, 72-75 — 147 +3; 8. Kimberly Meck, LSU 73-75 — 148 +4; 9. Rebecca Kuhn, LSU, 78-71 — 149 +5; 9. Maria Martinez, Auburn, 149 +3; 9. Brooke Shelton, LSU, 75-74 — 149 +5; Whitney Simons, South Carolina, 76-73 — 149 +5.
LSU Results
8. Kimberly Meck 73-75 — 148 +4
T9. Brooke Shelton 75-74 — 149 +5
T9 Rebecca Kuhn 78-71 — 149 +5
T13. Melissa Eaton 77-73 — 150 +6
T49. Vicky Meyer 82-81 — 163 +19