ORLANDO, Fla. — A bit of a sluggish finish by the LSU women’s golf team allowed two teams to sneak by them and drop from fifth to seventh in the final standings of the UCF Challenge Tuesday at the Grand Cypress Golf Club.
The Lady Tigers had to count eight shots over par on the final four holes to prevent LSU from its second straight top half of the field finish in the 54-hole event. LSU came home in 21-over 309 or 57-over 921 for the tournament. Florida came in with a strong five-over par round of 293 to move to fifth at 43-over par and Purdue posted a 303 final round to edge LSU by one shot for sixth place.
Duke was the runaway winner of the event, posting a second consecutive under par round, this time a one-under 287 to finish the 54-hole event at four-under 860 (289-284-287). The Blue Devils, who will be one of the favorites in the upcoming LSU/Cleveland Classic, March 16-18, in Baton Rouge, finished 26 shots ahead of No. 1-ranked Georgia at 22-over 886 (305-290-291). Duke is presently ranked No. 4.
Melissa Eaton fell back on the leader board for LSU on the final day as she posted a seven-over 79 score to finish at 10-over 226, dropping from a tie for seventh place to a tie for 20th.
On the final day, the Tigers counted a 75 from Caroline Martens, a 76 from Rebecca Kuhn and 79s from Eaton, Kim Meck and Alexis Rather. Meck finished next in the individual competition for the Lady Tigers with a 15-over 33rd-place 231.
Amanda Blumenherst won the exemption into a future LPGA event and the title with a dominating 11-under par score of 205 (70-65-70), 12 shots better than Jacqui Concolino of Vanderbilt. Concolino finished at one-over 217 (72-75-70).
The Lady Tigers next play in their own home event the LSU/Cleveland Golf Classic, March 16-18 at the University Club. A total of 21 teams, a record field, will take part in the competition, a preview event for this year’s NCAA Women’s Regional set for early May in Baton Rouge.
UCF Challenge — Orlando, Fla.
Final Team Results (Par 288-864)
1. Duke 289-284-287 — 860 -4; 2. Georgia 305-290-291 — 886 +22; 3. Pepperdine 296-298-304 — 898 +34; 3. Vanderbilt 302-298-298 — 898 +34; 5. Florida 313-301-293 — 907 +43; 6. Purdue 313-304-303 — 920 +56; 7. LSU 312-300-309 — 921 +57; 8. New Mexico 307-310-305 — 922 +58; 8. Alabama 321-301-300 — 922 +58; 10. Arkansas 312-312-304 — 928 +64; 11. Ohio State 322-304-311 — 937 +73; 12. UCF 324-308-320 — 952 +88; 13. SMU 323-322-309 — 954 +90.
Individual Top 5 (Par 72-216)
1. Amanda Blumenherst, Duke 70-65-70 — 205 -11; 2. Jacqui Concolino, Vandy, 72-75-70 — 217 +1; 3. Alina Lee, Georgia, 73-72-73 — 218 +2; 4. Jennie Lee, Duke, 73-72-74 — 219 +3; 5. Allison Whitaker, Duke, 71-74-75 — 220 +4; 5. Taylor Leon, Georgia, 71-77-72 — 220 +4.
LSU Scores
T20. Melissa Eaton 78-69-79 — 226 +10
33. Kim Meck 75-77-79 — 231 +15
T39. Rebecca Kuhn 79-79-76 — 234 +18
T41. Alexis Rather 81-75-79 — 235 +19
T46. Caroline Martens 80-81-75 — 236 +20
T56. Nicola Eaton 84-74-82 — 240 +24