PARRISH, Fla. — The LSU women’s golf team begins its spring season here Monday, looking to recapture some of the late-season magic of a year ago that propelled the Lady Tigers to the NCAA Division I Women’s National Championship Tournament.
The Lady Tigers joined 14 other teams in the Central District Invitational that begins a two-day run here at the River Wilderness Golf Club. Joining LSU and host Michigan State are: Arkansas, Baylor, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, SMU, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M and Tulsa.
LSU won the tournament in 2004 going wire-to-wire to win over Michigan State. Last year LSU finished fourth with a three-round score of 897, six shot lower than the team’s winning score in 2004.
The 54-hole event begins Monday with two shotgun start rounds beginning at 7 a.m. CST with the final 18 holes scheduled for Tuesday.
LSU will go with the same lineup that played in last year’s championships led by senior Melissa Eaton. The rest of the Tiger lineup will be juniors Kim Meck, Rebecca Kuhn and Alexis Rather with sophomore Caroline Martens.
In the fall, Eaton averaged 74.9 strokes per round, while Kuhn posted a 75.4 average for 11 rounds and Meck 75.5. For Martens, who played in the fall season ending Hooters Match Play, this will be her first stroke play event since the Championships last spring.
“The girls are really looking forward to the spring season,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “We want to keep moving forward as we did a year ago so we are hopefully playing our best when the post-season arrives. More than anything, the girls are looking forward to hosting our annual tournament in just a month.”
The Lady Tigers, in their third tournament of the spring, will host the 26th LSU/Cleveland Golf Classic at the University Club in Baton Rouge, March 16-18. The tournament will feature its biggest field ever of 21 teams. LSU will also host the NCAA East Women’s Regional at the University Club, May 11-13.
Live scoring for the Central District Regional can be found at www.golfstat.com.