BATON ROUGE — The first round of the LSU Golf Classic lived up to its pre-tournament billing as four teams posted red numbers on the opening day of the three-day event at the LSU University Club.
Despite the threat of bad weather, the field was able to complete the round thanks primarily to a decision by tournament officials to go with a shotgun start for the first round of the 54-hole event. Officials also allowed the players to lift, clean and place the ball in advance of expected rain which did not prove much of a factor.
No. 12 Wake Forest was the best of the bunch with a four-under score of 284, one shot better than No. 3 Virginia at three-under 285. The ninth-ranked Lady Tigers, playing without No. 1 player Megan McChrystal who has been under the weather this week, is tied for third with No. 13 North Carolina at one-under 287. No. 40 Tulane had a strong round shooting one-over 289.
“I’m proud of our team” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “When you can shoot a round like that, it’s pretty good golf. I’m happy we got the round in and I like our position and what we were able to do without Megan. We look forward to the rest of the weekend and hope that we can get the round in (Saturday).”
A total of 15 golfers were under par on the first day as Callie Nelson of Virginia, ranked 65th in the country, shot a five-under 67 on the opening day on the par-72 6,424-yard layout. The 67 is tied for the seventh lowest 18-hole score in the 10-year history of competitive women’s college golf at the U-Club.
Helping the LSU cause in a big way was the play of Jacqueline Hedwall, the freshman from Sweden who is already ranked 96th in the nation. Hedwall posted a four-birdie, no bogey round of 68 highlighted by three consecutive birdies on the par 4, 332-yard fourth hole, the 131-yard fifth hole and the 517-yard, par 5 sixth hole. Hedwall also birdied the par five 11th hole on the afternoon.
“She was just good and steady all day long,” Bahnsen said of Hedwall’s play. “That was really a wonderful round.”
Hedwall is in a tie for second with Allie White of North Carolina at the four-under 68 mark.
Sophomore Amalie Valle posted an even par of 72 for the Lady Tigers, tied for 16th after one round, with freshman Tessa Teachman shooting one-over 73 and senior Caroline Martens and sophomore Nicole Crochet are at two-over 74.
The Tigers are trying to win the tournament for the first time since 2005 and for the fourth time since the event was first played at the LSU home course in 2000.
Tournament officials have elected to go with a shotgun start again on Saturday allowing the chance for rain delays and still getting the round in. The round is scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m. Sunday’s final round is already scheduled for a shotgun in consideration of travel for the teams.
Admission to the U-Club is free for the tournament. Live scoring for the event is available at LSUsports.net through golfstatresults.com.
The LSU Golf Classic
Baton Rouge, La. ? University Club
First-round Team Results (Par 288)
1. Wake Forest 284 -4; 2. Virginia 285 -3; 3. LSU 287 -1; 3. North Carolina 287 -1; 5. Tulane 289 +1; 6. TCU 290 +2; 6. North Carolina Wilmington 290 +2; 8. South Carolina 292 +4; 9. Furman 293 +5; 9. Kentucky 293 +5; 11. Colorado 296 +8; 11. Louisville 296 +8; 11. Notre Dame 296 +8; 14. Arkansas 298 +10; 15. College of Charleston 300 +12; 15. Ole Miss 300 +12; 17. North Carolina State 304 +16; 18. Mississippi State 308 +20.
Individual Top 25
1. Callie Nielson, Virginia, 67 -5; 2. Jacqueline Hedwall, LSU, 68 -4; 2. Allie White 68 -4; 4. Natalie Sheary, Wake Forest, 69 -3; 5. Daniela Holmquist, Tulane, 70 -2; 5. Blair Lamb, Furman, 70 -2; 5. Ashlee Rose, Kentucky, 70 -2; 5. Ashley Tait, UNCW, 70 -2; 5. Benedicte Toumpsin, South Carolina, 70 -2; 10. Jennie Arseneault, Virginia, 71 -1; 10. Jean Chua, Wake Forest, 71 -1; 10. Sofia Hagsund, UNCW, 71 -1; 10. Lauren Hunt, North Carolina, 71 -1; 10. Cindy LaCrosse, Louisville, 71 -1; 10. Ashley McKenney, Tulane, 71 -1; 16. Prisela Campbell, TCU, 72 E; 16. Meghan Chapman, North Carolina State, 72 E; 16. Valentine Derry, TCU, 72 E; 16. Nannette Hill, Wake Forest, 72 E; 16. Becca Huffer, Notre Dame, 72 E; 16. Christine Kim, Colorado, 72 E; 16. Lucy Nunn, Arkansas, 72 E; 16. Catherine O’Donnell, North Carolina, 72 E; 16. Rachel Raastad, TCU, 72 E; 16. Alyssa Randolph, Kentucky, 72 E; 16. Emily Rapp, Charleston, 72 E; 16. Amalie Valle, LSU, 72 E; 16. Delores White, Wake Forest, 72 E.
LSU Scores
T2. Jacqueline Hedwall 68 -4
T16. Amalie Valle 72 E
T30. Tessa Teachman 73 +1
T39. Nicole Crochet 74 +2
T39. Caroline Martens 74 +2
T70. Lindy LaBauve 77 +5
T80. Abby Oberthier 78 +6
96. Mary-Michael Burns 87 +15