FRANKLIN, Tenn. — LSU women’s golf coach Karen Bahnsen has been working her team hard on “thinking about the target.”
While one round does not move the target from the planned next shot location into the green, another round Saturday like Friday’s may put LSU on the target list to capture the Southeastern Conference Women’s Golf Championship after the Lady Tigers put two players in the individual lead following the first 18 holes at the Iron Horse course of the Vanderbilt Legends Club.
Sophomore Alexis Rather and freshman Caroline Martens posted the lowest rounds in the 60-player field of even-par 72 on the 6,217-yard course that in three weeks will host the LPGA Franklin American Mortgage championships.
Rather and Martens were the only players to match par and it was a day when both players spent most of the day under par. Rather had four birdies through the first 12 holes and was two under par, before an unfortunate wind gust send her ball off the left side of the par-3 16th green and into the lake resulting in the first of two straight bogeys to close the round.
Martens turned the front nine in even par and went to 1-under on the par-3 13th before giving the stroke back on the treacherous par-5 18th hole.
The last player to win the SEC Championships from LSU was Kristi Coats in 1991 from Lexington, Ky.
LSU posted a four-player counting total of 14-over 302 on a day in which the wind blew harder and harder and made the already quick greens harder and firmer and caused havoc with all the team favorites over the final few holes.
The Lady Tigers are in fourth place after the first round of the 54-hole event but there is a logjam up front in the team competition as defending champion Auburn is the leader at 12-over 300, one shot better than Georgia and Tennessee at 13-over 301, with LSU followed by Vanderbilt at 15-over 303 and Arkansas sixth at 16-over 304.
There are just 10 shots separating first and ninth after the completion of the 18 holes.
“I’m pleased where we are but there is still a long way to the finish,” said Bahnsen, whose Lady Tigers are looking for their first SEC championship since 1992. “We’ve been working hard on trying to have a little different mindset. I’m very pleased with Alexis and Caroline, but all of the girls were trying very hard. We’ve just got to continue to think about the target as we make each shot and let the results take care of themselves.
The round is one shot better than the 303 LSU opened with a year ago in the SEC’s in Tunica when LSU shot 42-over and was two shots out of the championship playoff. Last year LSU came back in the second round with a five-over 293.
“We can’t afford to get excited about one round,” said Bahnsen, coaching in her 22nd SEC Championship. “It was a very solid effort.”
LSU also counted a four-over par 76 from top-average player Melissa Eaton and had to count a 10-over par score of 82 from Kim Meck. Eaton after the first round is in a group tied for 15th place.
LSU may be in a better position Saturday to play for the lead teeing off in the opening wave at 8:30 a.m. with Vanderbilt and Arkansas before the Auburn, Georgia, Tennessee wave, especially if the winds continue to roar on the back nine holes.
“I was very surprised at how much the wind blew (Friday),” said Bahnsen. “We have to learn that when the wind blows these greens will get hard and fast and those adjustments then have to be made. That’s something that comes with experience.”
Live scoring of the second round of the tournament can be found Saturday at www.golfstat.com.
SEC Women’s Golf Championships
Team Results (Par 288)
1. Auburn 300 +12; 2. Tennessee 301 +13; 2. Georgia 301 +13; 4. LSU 302 +14; 5. Vanderbilt 303 +15; 6. Arkansas 304 +16; 7. Alabama 307 +19; 8. Florida 308 +20; 9. South Carolina 310 +22; 10. Kentucky 315 +27; 11. Mississippi 318 +30; 12. Miss. State 321 +33.
Individual Top 10 (Par 72)
1. Caroline Martens, LSU, 72 E; 1. Alexis Rather, LSU, 72 E; 3. Holly Cantwell, Tennessee, 73 +1; 3. Maria Martinez, Auburn, 73 +1; 3. Marci Turner, Tennessee, 73 +1; 3. Amanda McCurdy, Arkansas, 73 +1; 7. Jacqui Concolino, Vanderbilt, 74 +2; 7. Alina Lee, Georgia, 74 +2; 7. Abigale Schepperle, Auburn, 74 +2; 10. Kelly Froelich, Georgia, 75 +3; 10. Taylor Leon, Georgia, 75 +3; 10. Stacy Lewis, Arkansas, 75 +3; 10. Jenna Pearson, S. Carolina, 75 +3; 10. Whitney Simons, S. Carolina, 75 +3.
LSU Scores
T1. Caroline Martens 72 E
T1. Alexis Rather 72 E
T15. Melissa Eaton 76 +4
T50. Kimberly Meck 82 +10
T54. Rebecca Kuhn 83 +11