PARRISH, Fla. — Junior Melissa Eaton posted a 1-over-par 73 final round to finish in fifth place as the first spring tournament for the LSU women’s golf team came to a close on Tuesday.
Eaton finished the 54-hole Central District Invitational with rounds of 74-76-73 to finish at 7-over par 223. It was her sixth career top-10 finish.
As a team, LSU was able to move up one place in the final standings to sixth place, after shooting a 20-over 308. LSU finished with a three-round total of 921 (304-309-308), 57-over par. Baylor went wire-to-wire to win the event at 32-over 896 with rounds of 302-298-296.
Baylor won by 11 shots over Ohio State at 43-over 907 with Southern Methodist in third at 908. Nebraska at 50-over par 914 and Missouri at 51-over 915 took fifth in front of the Lady Tigers.
LSU for the second straight round was forced to count a round in the 80, also counting a 77 from Kim Meck, a 78 from Alexis Rather and an 80 from Caroline Martens.
“We will take what we learned here and get ready now for a special event at out home course,” said LSU coach Karen Bahnsen. “Melissa Eaton had a good tournament and carries a lot of momentum to the LSU Classic. We are really looking forward to what’s ahead.”
The Tigers will for the 25th time, host a spring tournament, the annual LSU Classic at the University Club, March 3-5. A total of 18 teams will take part in the event.
CENTRAL DISTRICT INVITATIONAL ? FINAL ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 864)
1. Baylor 302-298-296 ? 896 +32; 2. Ohio State 301-308-298 ? 907 +43; 3. SMU 298-311-299 ? 908 +44; 4. Nebraska 307-303-304 ? 914 +50; 5. Missouri 306-303-306 ? 915 +51; 6. LSU 304-309-308 ? 921 +57; 7. Kansas 307-309-306 ? 922 +58; 8. Michigan State 309-312-302 ? 923 +59; t9. Michigan 308-311-306 ? 925 +61; t9. Northwestern 300-310-315 ? 925 +61; 11. Notre Dame 305-318-309 ? 932 +68; 12. Illinois State 304-324-307 ? 935 +71; 13. Kansas State 315-309-313 ? 937 +73; 14. Texas Tech 327-312-313 ? 952 +88
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 216)
1. Lacey Jones, SMU, 72-73-70 ? 215 -1; 2. Stephanie Ruiz, Nebraska, 73-75-71 ? 219 +3; 3. Meredith Jones, Baylor, 76-72-73 ? 221 +5; 4. Samantha Richdale, Illinois State, 70-78-74 ? 222 +6; t5. Melissa Eaton, LSU, 74-76-73 ? 223 +7; t5. Alice Kim, Northwestern, 70-74-79 ? 223 +7; 8. Sian Reddick, Baylor, 76-74-74 ? 224 +8; t9. Suzie Hayes, Notre Dame, 73-77-75 ? 225 +9; t9. Kelli Strubinger, Missouri, 79-74-72 ? 225 +9
LSU SCORES
t5. Melissa Eaton 74-76-73 ? 223 +7
t33. Caroline Martens 77-76-80 ? 233 +17
t36. Alexis Rather 75-81-78 ? 234 +18
t49. Kim Meck 78-81-77 ? 236 +20
t49. Vicky Meyer 79-76-81 ? 236 +20