ORLANDO, Fla. — The LSU Lady Tigers will be in action in the inaugural UCF Challenge that will feature eight of the nation’s top 25 women’s golf teams.
The 54-hole event will be held at the Villas of Grand Cypress Monday and Tuesday. The event will feature 36 holes of play on Monday followed by the final 18-hole round on Tuesday.
The tournament features defending national champion Duke and current No. 1 Georgia headlining the 13-team field. The field also includes Pepperdine, Vanderbilt Purdue, New Mexico, Florida, Arkansas, host UCF, Alabama, LSU, Ohio State and SMU.
This will be LSU’s second tournament of the spring after finishing fifth two weeks ago in the Central District Invitational in Parrish, Fla.
This tournament will make some history as the medalist from the event will receive a sponsor’s exemption to play in the LPGA’s Sybase Classic on May 14-20 in Clifton, N.J. This will mark the first time the winner of a collegiate event will receive an exemption to an LPGA tour event.
LSU was still determining its starting lineup for the event late Sunday as Karen Bahnsen‘s qualifying rounds for the tournament were so close that she had three golfers playing for two of the final spots at the tournament site with the other to play as an individual competitor. Kim Meck, who tied for sixth in the opening tournament, will join Rebecca Kuhn and Alexis Rather in the starting team lineup while two of these three — Melissa Eaton, Nicola Eaton or Caroline Martens — will also compete in the team lineup for LSU.
“We are looking forward to this event,” said Bahnsen. “The weather is great and I think the girls are ready to play well. We need to get off to a good start and make our way through the early holes without getting into an early hole.”
Live scoring for the event will be available at www.golfstat.com.