ORLANDO, Fla. — LSU senior golfer Melissa Eaton fired a three-under par round of 69 in the second round of the UCF Challenge to put herself in a tie for seventh entering Tuesday’s final round of play in the 54-hole event.
Eaton moved up 20 spots from 27th to a tie for seventh after her bogey free second round that followed a morning trip around the Grand Cypress Golf Club in six-over 78. Her 147 total for 36 holes stands at 3-over par, two shots out of a group tied for second at 1-over par 145. Amanda Blumenherst of Duke is the tournament leader at 9-under par with rounds of 70-65 for a 36-hole total of 135.
The LSU women’s golf team stands in fifth place in the 13-team field, with rounds of 312-300 to stand at 36-over 612. LSU for the second straight tournament made a good improvement, this time 12 strokes, from round one in the morning to round two in the afternoon.
In the morning round, the Lady Tigers counted a 75 from Kim Meck, a 78 from Melissa Eaton, a 79 from Rebecca Kuhn and an 80 from Caroline Martens. With Eaton’s 69 leading the way in the afternoon, the Tigers counted a 75 from Alexis Rather, a 77 from Meck and a 79 from Kuhn.
With Blumenherst’s low round, Duke as a team went low to four-under par 284 in the second round and finished the day at three-under 573 for 36-holes, 21 shots ahead of Pepperdine. Pepperdine is at 18-over par, one shot ahead of Georgia with Vanderbilt in fourth at 24-over. LSU is two shots up on Florida in sixth.
“Mel had a great round in the afternoon and did a wonderful job, but again so did the team,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “We held our position pretty much all afternoon and certainly have a chance to move up a bit if we come out and play loose and free and not worry about what is happening in the other groups.”
The final round of the 54-hole tournament is set for a shotgun start Tuesday morning and live scoring will be available on Golfstatresults.com.
UCF Challenge
Team Results (Par 288-576)
1. Duke 289-284 — 573 -3; 2. Pepperdine 296-298 — 594 +18; 3. Georgia 305-290 — 505 +19; 4. Vanderbilt 302-298 — 600 +24; 5. LSU 312-300 — 612 +36; 6. Florida 313-301 — 614 +38; 7. New Mexico 307-310 — 617 +41; 7. Purdue 313-304 — 617 +41; 9. Alabama 321-301 — 622 +46; 10. Arkansas 312-312 — 624 +48; 11. Ohio State 322-304 — 626 +50; 12. UCF 324-308 — 632 +58; 13. SMU 323-322 — 645 +69.
Individual Top 5 (Par 72-144)
1. Amanda Blumenherst, Duke, 70-65 — 135 -9; 2. Alison Whitaker, Duke, 71-74 — 145 +1; 2. Jennie Lee, Duke, 73-72 — 145 +1; 2. Misun Cho 72-73 — 145 +1; 2. Alina Lee 73-72 — 145 +4; 2. Nicole Montgomery, Pepperdine, 74-71 — 145 +1.
LSU Scores
T7. Melissa Eaton 78-69 — 145 +3
T19. Kim Meck 75-77 — 152 +8
T37. Alexis Rather 81-75 — 156 +12
T44. Nicola Eaton 84-74 — 158 +14
T44. Rebecca Kuhn 79-79 — 158 +14
T57. Caroline Martens 80-81 — 161 +17