AUSTIN, Texas — The 20th-ranked LSU Lady Tigers kept themselves in contention for a spot in the national championships Thursday with a first-round score of 12-over par 300 in the first round of the NCAA Central Regional golf tournament at the University of Texas Golf Course.
The Lady Tigers seventh seeded in the 21-team field and needing to finish among the top eight teams to advance to the national finals in Albuquerque in two weeks, stand in ninth place entering today’s second round of the 54-hole event that runs through Saturday. LSU will play in the afternoon wave that begins at 12:30 p.m. The final qualifying score after the first round is one shot behind the 11-over 299 of host Texas.
The top eight after 18 holes includes a couple of surprises but not at the top as No. 1 seed, second-ranked UCLA is the leader at five under par 283, two shots better than the 30th-ranked TCU team, seeded out of the top 10, but in second at three-under 285. Third belongs to the second seeded Purdue team at even par 288. Denver proved worth of its No. 11 national ranking with a fourth-place finish in the first round at four-over 292. Nebraska, ranked 49th, is fifth at six-over 294, followed by Texas A&M at 295
LSU played some pretty solid golf through the first 16 holes of the opening round over a difficult golf course but gave back six strokes on the final two holes that proved to be the difference in keeping LSU out of the early top eight positions.
“We just didn’t finish,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “They are tough holes, but we’ve got to finish better. We are better than that. I don’t think we shot ourselves out of it by any means. We just need to go out (Friday) and remember to finish the round. The girls really did very well for most of the round. They hung in there and fought through it, but we’ve got to go to the end.”
LSU’s two freshman in the lineup, Megan McChrystal and Amalie Valle both posted rounds of one-over 73 in the first round. Junior Caroline Martens and seniors Rebecca Kuhn and Alexis Rather all shot five-over 77s. McChrystal and Valle are in a group tied for 19th.
The individual leader is Maria Jose Uribe of UCLA with a seven-under par 65, one of 14 players under par on the first day. Mana Hernandez of Purdue is one shot back at 66 and another shot back is Valentine Derry of TCU at 67. Hernandez had a hole-in-one on the par three second hole which measures at 174 yards.
Live scoring of the second round of the tournament can be found at LSUsports.net through Golfstat.com.
NCAA Central Regional Women’s Golf Tournament
Austin, Texas
First Round Team Results (Par 288)
1. UCLA 283 -5; 2. TCU 285 -3; 3. Purdue 288 E; 4. Denver 292 +4; 5. Nebraska 294 +6; 6. Texas A&M 295 +7; 7. Florida State 298 +10; 8. Texas 299 +11; 9. LSU 300 +12; 9. North Carolina State 300 +12; 11. Texas State 301 +13; 12. Notre Dame 302 +14; 13. Alabama 304 +16; 13. Pepperdine 304 +16; 15. Kent State 305 +17; 16. East Tennessee State 307 +19; 16. Texas Tech 307 +19; 18. Washington 312 +24; 19. Illinois State 313 +25; 20. Harvard 314 +26; 21. Fairleigh-Dickinson 352 +64.
Top 5 Individuals (Par 72)
1.Maria Jose Uribe, UCLA 65 -7; 2. Marina Hernandez, Purdue, 66 -6; 3. Valentine Derrey, TCU, 67 -5; 4. Lauren Doughtie, North Carolina State, 69 -3; 5. Whitney Brummett, Florida State, 70 -2; 5. Aruka Felgueroso,Coastal Carolina, 70 -2; 5. Laura Jansone, East Tennessee State, 70 -2; 5. Katie Kempter, Denver, 70 -2; 5. Caroline Westrup, Florida State, 70 -2.
LSU Scores
T19. Amalie Valle 73 +1
T19. Megan McChrystal 73 +1
T57. Alexis Rather 77 +5
T57. Caroline Martens 77 +5
T57. Rebecca Kuhn 77 +5
Women's Golfers Finish Top 5 in Norwegian Nationals