BLYTHEVILLE, S.C. — The eighth-ranked LSU women’s golf team struggled on the greens from almost the beginning of its opening round of the Southeastern Conference Women’s Golf Championships to get anything going Friday at The University Club at Cobblestone Park and the Lady Tigers find themselves entering Saturday’s play in a tie for seventh position.
No. 7 Auburn, one of the pre-tournament favorites, got its weekend off to a good start with a five-over par round of 289 on the par 71, team par 284 layout. That included a back nine of one-under par after turning at six-over on the front side for its four-counting scores.
No. 29 Tennessee and 17th-ranked Arkansas are in a tie for second at 11-over par and host South Carolina showed much more than their 40 ranking using home-course advantage to post one of their best efforts of the year at 15-over 299. Georgia (14) and Alabama (6) are tied for fifth at 16-over 300 with the Lady Tigers joining 38th-ranked Ole Miss in a tie for seventh at 17-over 301.
LSU posted eight-over par on the front side and nine-over on the final nine holes for its counting scores, with half the strokes coming on the middle holes of each side ? four on the 3-4-5 holes and five on the 13-14-15 holes. LSU had just seven counting birdies on the scorecard with 19 bogeys, a double and a triple bogey.
Six did prove to be the toughest hole on the course at 0.68 over par, while 13-14-15 played for the field at less than 0.25 over par.
Despite the struggle, the Tigers are still just six shots out of second and two out of fourth as they look to move up on Saturday.
“We did not play well (Friday),” emphasized LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “We did not get the ball in the hole. We had some big numbers. This is one of those golf courses I think the more you play it, the better feel you have a for it and I think that holds true for this one. I think we learned a lot (Friday) and we are going to go out and try to play really good and aggressive and try to get back into this thing. I think we can do it. There were some crazy things out there and that’s not our nature. So I think we should bounce back. We are very determined to do that.”
Freshman Jacqueline Hedwall was the bright spot for the Lady Tigers in her opening SEC round, shooting one-over pars on both side (36-37) and overcoming a triple bogey on the par-5 14th to shoot a two-over round of 73 to stand in a group tied for 10th place on a day when the average score was 76.44. One of Hedwall’s four birdies came on the par 3 uphill 17th hole, one of just four birdies on the day there.
LSU also counted a four-over 75 from freshman Tessa Teachman, a five-over 76 from sophomore Megan McChrystal and a six-over 77 from sophomore Amalie Valle.
Three players are tied for the individual lead at one-under par 70 ? Ashley Lance of Ole Miss, Lucy Nunn of Arkansas and Haley Wilson of Auburn. Lance is not in the top 100 presently in the Golfstat Cup rankings while Nunn is ranked 65th and Wilson 81st.
Wilson’s round along with even par rounds of 13th-ranked Candace Schepperle and 31st ranked Cydney Clanton propelled the Tigers to a dominate position after one round as they try to win their first title since 2006 and their seventh title all-time.
LSU will play in the final wave off Hole No. 10 on Saturday in the second round with Ole Miss and Vanderbilt beginning at 9:20 a.m. EDT. Live scoring can be found on LSUsports.net through Golfstat.com.
SEC Women’s Championships
Blytheville, S.C.
First Round Team Results (Par 284)
1. Auburn 289 +5; 2. Tennessee 295 +11; 2. Arkansas 295 +11; 4. South Carolina 299 +15; 5. Georgia 300 +16; 5. Alabama 300 +16; 7. LSU 301 +17; 7. Ole Miss 301 +17; 9. Vanderbilt 304 +20; 10. Florida 307 +23; 11. Kentucky 313 +29; 12. Mississippi State 318 +34.
Top 10 Individuals (Par 71)
1. Ashley Lance, Ole Miss, 70 -1; 1. Lucy Nunn, Arkansas, 70 -1; 1. Haley Wilson, Auburn, 70 -1; 4. Cydney Clanton, Auburn, 71 E; 4. Nathalie Mansson, Tennessee, 71 E; 4. Candace Schepperle, Auburn, 71 E; 7. Marta Silva, Georgia, 72 +1; 7. Benedicte Toumpsin, South Carolina, 72 +1; 7. Jessica Yadloczky, Florida, 72 +1; 10. Marina Alex, Vandy, 73 +2; 10. Corrine Carr, South Carolina, 73 +2; 10. Dori Carter, Ole Miss, 73 +2; 10. Kathleen Ekey, Alabama, 73 +2; 10. Jacqueline Hedwall, LSU, 73 +2; 10. Mallory Hetzel, Georgia; 10. Kristin Ingram, Arkansas, 73 +2.
LSU Scores
T10. Jacqueline Hedwall 73 +2
T22. Tessa Teachman 75 +4
T25. Megan McChrystal 76 +5
T31. Amalie Valle 77 +6
T44. Caroline Martens 79 +8