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Tough Second Nine Leaves Women's Golf Seventh at SEC's

by LSUsports.net (@LSUsports)
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Tough Second Nine Leaves Women's Golf Seventh at SEC's

LOUDON, Tenn. — For the second straight day, a good start turned into trouble trying to come home on the final nine holes for the 19th-ranked LSU women’s golf team and the round was topped by a bizarre two-shot penalty assessed one group, including LSU’s Alexis Rather, for taking a shuttle ride to a hole where one didn’t exist at the Tennessee National Golf Club.
 
LSU posted a second straight round of 22-over par 310 and like Friday’s first round when LSU was in the lead after six holes, the round started to get away from the Lady Tigers at the turn where LSU turned at eight-over par for the second day. But just one birdie on the front side, a triple bogey and the two-shot penalty sent LSU’s score soaring.
 
The Lady Tigers stand in seventh place at 44 over par 619. Florida returned the lead Saturday with five-over 293 to stand at 14-over 590. The Lady Gators, trying to win the title for the first time since 1995, lead Arkansas, looking for its first title, by five shots at 19-over 595 after shooting a 10-over 298 in the much cooler temperatures.
 
Defending champion Georgia is third at 22-over 598 and then there is a gap back to fourth at 38-over 614 with Alabama. South Carolina and Auburn are one shot ahead of LSU in sixth and Vanderbilt is eighth, five shots in back of LSU.
 
LSU freshman Megan McChrystal has put herself in a position for a top 10 finish in her first SEC Tournament, shooting her second straight 75 for a two-day total of six-over 150 and in a group tied for 12th place in the competition. McChrystal did herself proud on her first nine holes of the day, the final nine holes of the course, getting three birdies to offset a bogey and a double bogey to turn at even par.
 
Stacy Lewis of Arkansas remains the individual leader at two-under par 142 as she followed Friday’s three-under 69 with a one-over 73 to stand one shot ahead of Hannah Yun of Florida at 143 (73-70). They are the only two players under par after 36 holes.
 
The rest of LSU’s scoring found Caroline Martens with a 76 and Amalie Valle with 79. Rebecca Kuhn and Alexis Rather had 80s and Rather’s included the two-shot penalty for the shuttle violation.
 
Rather’s group accepted a ride from a person in a volunteer shuttle cart on the long bridge between 16 and 17 but the bridge was not listed on the local rules as a shuttle site. Despite being offered a ride and the fact that it was an official cart, once they got on the cart and the cart began to move, each girl was awarded a two-shot penalty on the 17th hole.
 
“We’ve got to go out (Sunday) and be able to finish the round,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “Mentally we are rolling along nicely and then we’ve got to settle in and finish things off. We’ve got to finish that’s all there is to it. There were bright spots throughout the entire lineup and we want to have a good finish. Mentally, it is up to us to play all 18 holes.”
 
LSU will play with Vanderbilt and Ole Miss in the final wave off the back nine beginning at 8:50 a.m. CDT. Live scoring can be found at LSUsports.net through www.golfstat.com.
 
 
SEC Women’s Golf Championships
Tennessee National Golf Course ? Loudon, Tenn.

Second Round Team Results (Par 288-576)
1. Florida 297-293 ? 590 +14; 2. Arkansas 297-298 ? 595 +19; 3. Georgia 300-298 ? 598 +22; 4. Alabama 307-307 ? 614 +38; 5. South Carolina 300-319 ? 619 +43; 5. Auburn 310-309 ? 619 +43; 7. LSU 310-310 ? 620 +44; 8. Vanderbilt 308-317 ? 625 +49; 9. Ole Miss 309-317 ? 626 +50; 10. Tennessee 316-312 ? 628 +52; 11. Mississippi State 319-318 ? 637 +61; 12. Kentucky 326-319 ? 645 +69.
 
Individual Top 10 (Par 72-144)
1. Stacy Lewis, Arkansas 69-73 ? 142 -2; 2. Hannah Yun, Florida, 73-70 ? 143 -1; 3. Tiffany Chudy, Florida, 72-72 ? 144 E; 3. Benedicte Toumpsin, South Carolina, 72-72 ? 144 E; 5. Dori Carter, Ole Miss, 71-74 ? 145 +1; 6. Krystle Caithness, Georgia, 71-75 ? 146 +2; 7. Lucy Nunn, Arkansas 73-74 ? 147 +3; 8. Marci Turner, Tennessee 73-75 ? 148 +4; 9. Mallory Hetzel, Georgia, 74-75 ? 149 +5; Candace Schepperle, Auburn, 74-75 ? 149 +5; 9. Margaret Shirley, Auburn 74-75 ? 149 +5.
 
LSU Scores
T12. Megan McChrystal 75-75 ? 150 +6
T20. Caroline Martens 77-76 ? 153 +9
T29. Amalie Valle 79-79 ? 158 +14
T31. Alexis Rather 79-80 ? 159 +15
T35. Rebecca Kuhn 80-80 ? 160 +16