AUBURN, Ala. — The 24th-ranked LSU women’s golf team, faced with conditions that haven’t been favorable to the Lady Tigers in the past, played steady golf over the final 13 holes after a shaky start and find themselves in third place after one round of the Auburn Tiger-Derby Invitational here Saturday.
LSU stands just four shots out of the lead held by North Carolina after one round of the rain-shortened 36-hole tournament after Friday’s opening round was rained out. The University Club at Yarbrough Farms was soggy and strong winds sent scores much higher than has been seen in this event in recent years.
But after going 9-over par through the first five holes, LSU’s four-counting scores played the remainder of the course in 8-over par to finish at 17-over par 305. North Carolina finished at 13-over 301 and Auburn is directly between North Carolina and LSU, two shots behind NC and two ahead of LSU at 15-over 303.
Baylor is fourth at 18-over par 306 with Alabama rounding out the top five in the 17-team tournament at 20-over 308.
Only one player, Auburn’s Margaret Shirley equaled par 72 on the course and LSU junior Alexis Rather is in a large group tied for fourth place three-shots back at three-over 75. Rather posted four bogeys and a birdie on her card as she posted sides of 38-37.
Junior Rebecca Kuhn posted a four-over 76 and junior Kim Meck and senior Melissa Eaton both shot five-over 77s for the remainder of the four counting scores. Meck was four-over after her first six holes of play in the shotgun start, while Eaton was three-over after her first five holes, but both managed to gather it in and get LSU into a position to be in the final wave for Sunday’s final round.
“I am so happy with the way the girls played under these conditions,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “We didn’t let the first few holes bother us and we just kept ourselves concerned with the next shot and didn’t dwell on what happened earlier in the round. This was a big round for our team and now we have to repeat that again on Sunday.”
Live scoring for the final round of the tournament can be found at www.golfstat.com.
Auburn Tiger-Derby Invitational
First Round Results
Team (Par 288)
1. North Carolina 301 +13; 2. Auburn 303 +15; 3. LSU 305 +17; 4. Baylor 306 +18; 5. Alabama 308 +20; 6. Mississippi 309 +21; 6. Tennessee 309 +21; 6. Florida State 309 +21; 9. Nebraska 310 +22; 10. Furman 311 +23; 10. South Carolina 311 +23; 12. Florida 313 +25; 13. Birmingham-Southern 315 +27; 14. Mississippi State 320 +32; 15. Central Florida 322 +34; 16. Kansas 327 +39; 17. Texas 334 +46.
Individual Top 5 (Par 72)
1. Margaret Shirley, Auburn, 72 E; 2. Sydney Crane, North Carolina 74 +2; 2. Marisa Milligan 74 +2; 4. Jaclyn Burch, Florida State, 75 +3; 4. Diana Cantu, Tennessee, 75 +3; 4. Dori Carter, Ole Miss 75 +3; 4. Lauren Hunt, North Carolina 75 +3; 4. Chrissie McArdle, Nebraska, 75 +3; 4. Jenna Pearson, South Carolina, 75 +3; 4. Alexis Rather, LSU, 75 +3.
LSU Scores
T4. Alexis Rather 75 +3
T12. Rebecca Kuhn 76 +4
T22. Melissa Eaton 77 +5
T22. Kim Meck 77 +5
T55. Nicola Eaton 80 +8