AUBURN, Ala. — The 13th-ranked LSU women’s golf team, coming off one its best moments in winning its last tournament, had the tables completely turned on them as the Lady Tigers found par to be a difficult score to achieve Friday in the first round of the Auburn-Derby Invitational at the Auburn University Club at Yarbrough Farms.
After shooting a seven-under par round of 281 in the final round in Knoxville, Tenn., Auburn’s University Club was a nightmare to all but a few of the teams in changing weather conditions as only six teams were able to break 20 over par and LSU struggled home with a 26-over 314 for the opening day, having to count three different scores of eight-over 80.
The Lady Tigers are 14th in the 17-team field led by No. 8 Virginia at one-over 289, five shots better than No. 7 Alabama at 294. No. 11 Auburn is at 10-over 298 in third, followed by Arizona State at 300, Mississippi at 305 and Tulane at 307.
LSU came out of the blocks with four double bogeys and a triple in the first four holes of play on the shotgun start and then had to play from behind the rest of the round. LSU played holes 10-18 in eight-over par, their best stretch of the day and sophomore Megan McChrystal, the team leader in stroke average, put herself early in contention for another top 15 finish.
McChrystal rallied back from a double bogey on her fourth hole of the day, the par-5 seventh, to shoot a two-over 74 to stand in a group tied for 13th in the country. The Stuart, Fla., native is ranked 38th in the country in the latest GolfStat performance rankings.
LSU also counted 80s from senior Caroline Martens and freshmen Jacqueline Hedwall and Tessa Teachman.
“It was a struggle all day,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “We all know that we are a better golf team than that and we must come out (Saturday) and show that.”
Whitney Neuhauser of Virginia is the individual leader at three-under par 69.
The second round is scheduled for tee time starts at 8:30 a.m. with live scoring on LSUsports.net through www.Golfstat.com.
Auburn-Derby Invitational
First Round Team Results (Par 288)
1. Virginia 289 +1; 2. Alabama 294 +6; 3. Auburn 298 +11; 4. Arizona State 300 +12; 5. Mississippi 305 +17; 6. Tulane 307 +19; 7. Georgia 308 +20; 8. Furman 309 +21; 9. South Carolina 310 +22; 9. Florida State 310 +22; 9. UCF 310 +22; 12. Kansas 311 +23; 13. Mississippi State 312 +24; 14. LSU 314 +26; 15. Kentucky 315 +27; 16. UT Chattanooga 317 +29; 17. Coastal Carolina 324 +36.
Individual Top 5 (Par 72)
1. Whitney Neuhauser, Virginia, 69 -3; 2. Jackie Hilea, Furman, 70 -2; 2. Anna Nordqvist, 70 -2; 2. Brooke Pancake, Alabama, 70 -2; 5. Candace Schepperle, Auburn, 71 -1.
LSU Scores
T13. Megan McChrystal 74 +2
T54. Caroline Martens 80 +8
T54. Tessa Teachman 80 +8
T54. Jacqueline Hedwall 80 +8
T82. Nicole Crochet 84 +12