PARRISH, Fla. — Baylor proved to be the best team after the first day of the Central District Invitational at the River Wilderness Golf Club here Monday, but six teams, including the LSU Lady Tigers are in position to make a run in the final round Tuesday should the leader falter.
Baylor has a nine-shot advantage after the first 36 holes of the 54-hole event after shooting rounds of 302-298 on the par 72 layout. Their 600 score of 24-over par is ahead of three teams at 33-over 609 (Ohio State, Missouri and SMU). Northwestern and Nebraska are one shot back and LSU, in their opening event of the spring season, is three more back at 37-over 613.
The Lady Tigers are 13 shots out of the lead but just four shots out of second place after rounds of 304 and 309.
Individually, LSU junior Melissa Eaton had a good day and posted a tie for ninth finish after two rounds. Eaton shot 74-76 for a six-over par total of 150. She is six strokes behind the individual leader, Alice Kim of Northwestern at even par 144 (70-74).
In the first round, LSU counted four scores in the 70s with Eaton’s 74 joined by 75 from Alexis Rather, 77 from Caroline Martens and 78 from Kim Meck. But in the second round, LSU had to count an 81 among the four counting scores.
“We just let too many strokes get away from us in the second round,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “But we are still in position for a very good finish and if things falter at the top and we are able to get on our game, we’ve done this before. We just needed to get started playing.”
The final round is set for Tuesday at 7 a.m. CST and live scoring for the round can be found at www.golfstat.com.
Central District Invitational
Team Results (Par 288-576)
1. Baylor 302-298 — 600 +24; 2. Ohio State 301-308 — 609 +33; Missouri 306-303 — 609 +33; SMU 298-311 — 609 +33; 5. Northwestern 300-310 — 610 +34; Nebraska 307-303 — 610 +34; 7. LSU 304-309 — 613 +37; 8. Kansas 307-309 — 616 +40; 9. Michigan 308-311 — 619 +43; 10. Michigan State 309-312 — 621 +45; 11. Notre Dame 305-318 — 623 +47; 12. Kansas State 315-309 — 624 +48; 13. Illinois State 304-324 — 628 +52; 14. Texas Tech 327-312 — 639 +63.
Individual Top 5 (Par 72-144)
1. Alice Kim, Northwestern Univ., 70-74 — 144 +E; 2. Lacey Jones, 72-73 — 145 +1; 3. Stephanie Connelly, Ohio State, 71-77 — 148 +4; 3. Stephanie Connelly, Ohio State, 71-77 — 148 +4; 3. Meredith Jones, Baylor, 76-72 — 148 +4; 3. Samantha Richdale, Illinois State, 70-78 — 148 +4; 3. Stephanie Ruiz, Nebraska, 73-75 — 148 +4; 3. Sara Sackett, Nebraska, 75-73 — 148 +4.
LSU Scores
T9. Melissa Eaton 74-76 — 150 +6
T20. Caroline Martens 77-76 — 153 +9
T29. Vicky Meyer 79-76 — 155 +11
T35. Alexis Rather 75-81 — 156 +12
T52. Kim Meck 78-81 — 159 +15