CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The LSU women’s golf team struggled through the first 12 holes of a rainy first round Friday of the Lady Tar Heel Classic and find themselves in a tie for 12th place.
The Tigers posted a 28-over par round of 316, tied for 12th in the 18-team field with host North Carolina. Duke is the leader with a six-over 294, six shots ahead of Vanderbilt, Virginia and Auburn at 12-over 300.
The opening round of the tournament was played with the remnants of former Tropical Storm Tammy rolling around the Carolinas and LSU’s struggles were compounded by occurring at a time when the weather was at its worst.
“We had some bad holes at the same time the weather was the toughest,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “We just didn’t handle it very well. But I was very proud of how they gathered themselves and were able to settle in and keep playing at the end.”
The tournament used a shotgun start format with everyone on the course at the same time and the Lady Tigers, after shooting 22-over on the back nine, was able to right the ship on their front nine holes, playing in six-over par.
Nicola Eaton, who posted a two-under 70 in the final round of the team’s first tournament in Charleston, had the best round of the day for the Tigers with a four-over 76 and is tied for 21st. Anna Grzebien of Duke and Leah Wigger of Virginia are tied for the lead with two-under 70.
The other LSU scores were Rebecca Kuhn with a six-over 78, Melissa Eaton 80 and Caroline Martens-Larsen and Kimberly Meck, 82s each.
Rain is again in the forecast for Saturday’s second round scheduled for 8:30 a.m. CDT. Live scoring for the event is available at www.golfstat.com
Lady Tar Heel Invitational
First Round Team Results (Par 288)
1. Duke 294 +6; 2. Vanderbilt 300 +12; 2. Auburn 300 +12; 2. Virginia 300 +12; 5. Wake Forest 302 +14; 6. North Carolina State 305 +17; 6. Texas A&M 305 +17; 8. Texas 307 +19; 9. Ohio State 309 +21; 10. Tulsa 312 +24; 11. Florida State 315- +27; 12. LSU 316 +28; 12. North Carolina 316 +28; 14. Tennessee 321 +33; 15. Kentucky 323 +35; 16. South Carolina 325 +37; 17. Oklahoma State 328 +40; 18. North Carolina (B) 342 +54
Individual Top 5 (Par 72)
1. Anna Grzebien, Duke, 70 -2; 1. Leah Wigger, Virginia, 70 -2; 3. Julia Best, Texas, 71 -1; 3. Nannette Hill, Wake Forest, 71 -1; Ashley Knoll, Texas A&M, 71 -1; Maria Martinez, Auburn, 71 -1.
LSU Scores
T21 Nicola Eaton 76 +4
T34 Rebecca Kuhn 78 +6
T50 Melissa Eaton 80 +8
T66. Caroline Martens-Larsen 82 +10
T66 Kimberly Meck 82 +10