Virginia, Arkansas' Nunn Win LSU Golf Classic; LSU Third

BATON ROUGE — Arkansas’s Lucy Nunn led the field with a total of 15 birdies during the 54-holes of the LSU Golf Classic that concluded Sunday at the LSU University Club.

She would need two more in a playoff to win the individual title after three golfers tied at seven-under par.

Nunn had to birdie the par-4 10th hole to stay alive after Callie Nielson of Virginia birdied in front of her. That eliminated Benedicte Toumpsin of South Carolina who posted par on the hole first. Then it was Nunn’s birdie on the second playoff hole, the par-5 11th hole that gave her the victory over Nielson.

All three tied at seven-under 209, the third consecutive year the low score was below 210 for the 54-hole event. Nunn moved up one spot from where she entered after 36 holes with a three-under 69, while Toumpsin moved from fourth to the tie for first with a four-under 68 and Nielson had the pair come catch her after firing a one-under 71.

On a day when the 96-player field averaged just over 73 strokes on the par 72 6,424-yard course, with no wind and rain made the course vulnerable and Virginia, Tulane, LSU and Louisville managed to shoot counting scores combining to an amazing 27-under par. In all, 10 teams were even or under par on the final day.

No. 3 Virginia made certain its 36-hole lead would hold up, posting a solid four under 284 on the final day to make it three-rounds under par and a final total of eight-under 856 (285-287-284). It was the lowest 54-hole total in school history, equaled the lowest single round ever shot by the Cavaliers and was the second team victory in the history of the program.

Tulane had the best round of the day with a 10-under 278, the second lowest single team round ever shot at the U-Club in 10-years of women’s collegiate competition, to move from fourth to second at three-under 867 and No. 10 LSU posted its second under par round of the tournament, a five-under 283 and moved from sixth to third with a three-day total of three-over 867 (287-297-283). The LSU total is impressive as the Tigers played throughout the weekend without No. 1 player Megan McChrystal who was held out with an illness.

Louisville rounded out the low scorers with an eight-under 280 to move to fifth place tie at six-over 870.

LSU fought all the way, counting three under par scores and an even par total in the final round.

“It was pretty impressive,” LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen said of the scoring. “That’s just a tribute to what women’s collegiate golf has come to. You’ve got to shoot under par these days to win. I could not be more proud of my team for what they did playing without the No. 9 player in the country. We’ve got some other great players on this team and they played very hard. I’m very proud of them. The number 3 team in the country beat and us and without three bad holes (Saturday) we would have been right there without our best player. It was a great weekend that says a lot about this team for the present and its future.”

Freshman Jacqueline Hedwall had a strong showing for LSU, posting rounds of 68-74-70 to finish at four-under 212 and sophomore Amalie Valle finished at even par 216 after rounds of 72-74-70. In all 15 players were at even par or under. On the final round LSU also counted a one-under 71 from senior Caroline Martens, playing her final competitive round at the U-Club and an even par 72 from sophomore Nicole Crochet. Martens finished in a tie for 25th at three-over 219.

Tulane was led by Daniela Holmqvist who shot five-under 211 with a 67 on the final day and Linn Gustafsson and Samantha Troyanovich who posted two-over 218s. Gustafsson shot 67 on the final day and Troyanovich 69.

LSU Golf Classic

Final Team Results (Par 288-864)
1. Virginia 285-287-284 ? 856 -8; 2. Tulane 289-294-278 ? 861 -3; 3. LSU 287-297-283 ? 867 +3; 4. Arkansas 298-284-287 ? 869 +5; 5. Wake Forest 284-296-290 ? 870 +6; 5. North Carolina 287-296-287 ? 870 +6; 5. Louisville 296-294-280 ? 870 +6; 8. TCU 290-301-289 ? 880 +16; 8. Kentucky 293-299-288 ? 880 +16; 10. Colorado 296-301-287 ? 884 +20; 10. South Carolina 292-305-287 ? 884 +20; 12. Notre Dame 296-301-288 ? 885 +21; 13. Furman 293-305-292 ? 890 +26; 14. North Carolina State 304-298-290 ? 892 +28; 15. UNC Wilmington 290-308-296 ? 894 +30; 16. Ole Miss 300-303-293 ? 896 +32; 17. Charleston 300-307-293 ? 900 +36; 18. Mississippi State 308-304-306 ? 918 +54.

Individual Top 15 (Par 72-216)
1. Lucy Nunn, Arkansas (win playoff on 2nd hole) 72-68-69 ? 209 -7; 2. Benedicte Toumpsin, South Carolina, 70-71-68 ? 209 -7; 2. Calle Nielson, Virginia, 67-71-71 ? 209 -7; 4. Nannette Hill, Wake Forest 72-70-68 ? 210 -6; 5. Whitney Neuhauser, Virginia, 74-67-70 ? 211 -5; 5. Daniela Holmqvist, Tulane, 70-74-67 ? 211 -5; 7. Allie White, North Carolina, 68-72-72 ? 212 -4; 7. Jacqueline Hedwall, LSU, 68-74-70 ? 212 -4; 9. Cindy LaCrosse, Louisville, 71-72-70 ? 213 -3; 10. Alyssa Randolph, Kentucky, 72-74-68 ? 214 -2; 11. Blair Lamb, Furman, 70-67-69 ? 215 -1; 11. Natalie Sheary, Wake Forest, 69-72-74 ? 215 -1; 11. Sara-Maude Juneau, Louisville, 73-74-68 ? 215 -1; 14. Amalie Valle, LSU, 72-74-70 ? 216 E; 14. Prisela Campbell, TCU, 72-78-66 ? 216 E.

LSU Scores
T7. Jacqueline Hedwall 68-74-70 ? 212 -4
T14. Amalie Valle 72-74-70 ? 216 E
T25. Caroline Martens 74-74-71 ? 219 +3
T37. Nicole Crochet 74-75-72 ? 221 +5
T46. Tessa Teachman 73-76-74 ? 223 +7
T51. Lindy LaBauve 77-72-76 ? 225 +9
T61. Abby Oberthier 78-77-72 ? 227 +11
T93. Mary-Michael Burns 87-81-85 ? 253 +37