FRANKLIN, Tenn. — The LSU women’s golf team improved its team total by two shots in round two Saturday of the Southeastern Conference Women’s Golf Championships, but also found themselves sliding backward a bit in the overall standings.
The Lady Tigers found themselves on the short end of a birdie fest by defending champion Auburn along with Georgia, Tennessee and host Vanderbilt over the 6,217-yard, par 72 Iron Horse course of the Vanderbilt Legends Club. All four of those teams shot under par as a team for the round, while LSU’s round was punctuated by several lip outs for birdies and a fluky triple bogey that was part of a counting score on the final hole.
LSU has posted rounds of 302-300 through the first 36 holes to stand at 26-over par 602, in seventh place in the tournament. LSU’s second best 36-hole score of the season other than when LSU posted a 589 total in the first two rounds of the LSU/Cleveland Golf Classic back in March.
“We were so close to having a great afternoon, but we still were able to put together a solid round,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen “We couldn’t get anything to drop and then a couple of little quirky things cost a few more strokes. Overall, the girls really worked hard to bring it home and we want to have another solid round on Sunday to finish with a consistent weekend.”
Auburn (with 11 final nine birdies in a counting seven-under back nine score), is in position to defend its title one a year ago at six-over 582 after shooting six-under 282 for the round (300-282). Georgia, with a three-under total for the day (285), is second at 10-over 586. Tennessee (12-over for the tournament) and Vanderbilt (14-over) both shot one-under for the day. Auburn’s 282 round was the fourth lowest single team round in the tournament’s history.
The LSU round was much better in many respects as all five players posted rounds in the 70s despite the fact that no Lady Tiger could really get the putter going to their liking. Rebecca Kuhn came up big for LSU, with a birdie on the par-5 18th to finish at even par 72, an 11-shot improvement over her round on Friday.
While first-round individual leaders Alexis Rather and Caroline Martens were unable to match the birdies going on around them, both had solid rounds with Rather at three-over 75 and Martens at five-over 77. Rather turned at four-over 40, but brought the round home with two birdies and just one bogey to shoot one-under 35 on the back nine.
Rather is tied for seventh in the individual competition at three-over 147 (72-75), led by Auburn’s Maria Martinez at three-under 141 (73-68). Also shooting 68 was Taylor Leon of Georgia who is at one-under 143 (75-68).
Martens also worked hard to keep her round going after also turning in 40, but shot a nine 37 on the final nine holes with only a hiccup on the par 3 16th, when she put her tee shot in the water. Martens, in her first SEC Tournament, is still in excellent position for a top finish at five-over 149 (72-77), in a tie for 16th place.
Melissa Eaton had a second straight 76 although she finished off the round with some bad luck when her second shot approach to the par-5 green after a gigantic tee shot ended up in the seat of an electric golf cart behind the green near the scoring area. She was allowed a drop but skulled her long shot from the side of the green off the other side into the water. She finished with a triple bogey.
Rather had much better luck on her play on the 18th after she was forced to back off of her approach shot because of a passing golf cart driven by what was believed to be a course member that did not stop to allow her to play. Ironically, when she played the shot, she pulled it in the same direction that Eaton did and it landed in the cart of the same individual who had driven by her moments before. The gentleman then began to drive off and threw the ball out on the ground with it coming to rest directly up against a tree by the green.
LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen and spectators who witnessed the incident all were involved in a discussion with a tournament rules official and the ball was placed back at the original location where the ball entered the cart. It was a much more favorable ruling for Rather, who parred the difficult hole.
The final round is set for an 8:30 a.m. start with live scoring available on www.golfstat.com
SEC Women’s Golf Championships
Second Round Team Results (Par 288-576)
1. Auburn 300-282 — 582 +6; 2. Georgia 301-285 — 586 +10; 3. Tennessee 301-287 — 588 +12; 4. Vanderbilt 303-287 — 590 +14; 5. Florida 308-291 — 599 +23; 6. Arkansas 304-297 — 601 +25; 7. LSU 302-300 — 602 +26; 8. Alabama 307-296 — 603 +27; 8. South Carolina 310-293 — 603 +27; 10. Mississippi State 321-301 — 622 +46; 11. Kentucky 315-310 — 625 +49; 12. Ole Miss 318-315 — 633 +57.
Second Round Individual Top 10 (Par 72-144)
1. Maria Martinez, Auburn, 73-68 — 141 -3; 2. Taylor Leon 75-68 — 143 -1; 3. Kristen Svicarovich, Vanderbilt, 76-69 — 145 +1; 4. Holly Cantwell, Tennessee, 73-73 — 146 +2; 4. Margaret Shirley, Auburn, 77-69 — 146 +2; 4. Marci Turner, Tennessee, 73-73 — 146 +2; 7. Jacqui Concolino, Vanderbilt, 74-73 — 147 +3; 7. Alina Lee, Georgia, 74-73 — 147 +3; Jessica Lovell, Auburn, 76-71 — 147 +3; 7. Amanda Mathis, Miss. State, 76-71 — 147 +3; 7. Whitney Myers, Florida, 77-70 — 147 +3; 7. Alexis Rather, LSU, 72-75 — 147 +3; 7. Violeta Retamoza, Tennessee, 77-70 — 147 +3; 7. Carina Sorensen, Alabama, 76-71 –147 +3.
LSU Scores
T7. Alexis Rather 72-75 — 147 +3
T17. Caroline Martens 72-77 — 149 +5
T30. Melissa Eaton 76-76 — 152 +8
T40. Rebecca Kuhn 83-72 — 155 +11
52. Kimberly Meck 82-79 — 161 +17