FRANKLIN, Tenn. — Soft course conditions and some of the best women’s golf teams in the country resulted in a day when par was the victim in the first round of the Mason Rudolph Women’s Championship Friday at the Vanderbilt Legends Course.
The good news was that LSU shot its first under par round of the early season with a two-under par 286. The bad news is that score was only good enough for a tie for 10th place after 18 holes of the 54-hole event.
Auburn and Southern California proved the best and getting the ball close and then making puts, tying for first at 10-under 278, two shots better than Alabama and defending national champions Arizona State (280). Duke is fifth at five-under 283, followed by UCLA at 284 and Georgia, Oklahoma State and Vanderbilt in front of LSU at three-under 285.
LSU is tied with Arizona at two-under 286. It marked the 19th time in the 31 year history of the program that LSU has shot an under par round in women’s golf and it ties for the sixth lowest round in school history.
Tessa Teachman and Megan McChrystal both shot two-under 70 for the Lady Tigers with Mary Michael Maggio posted an even par 72. The counting scores for the first round were rounded out by the two over 74 of Amalie Valle.
“The course has had a lot of rain and it is really soft,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “These are some very good players and everyone is just firing at the pins. We didn’t make a lot of putts. We had some opportunities during the round and didn’t convert. We left a few strokes on the course at the end of the round, but the girls played well and we’ll work to move forward on Saturday.”
In all, 12 teams were under par on the day in the field of 17 and 44 players shot even par or better on the opening day. Candace Schepperle of Auburn and Jennifer Song of Southern California both shot six-under 66 to lead the individual competition. Teachman and McChrystal are tied for 15th.
There is a 60 percent chance of more rain in the Nashville area Friday night so there is little chance the course will have a chance to dry out during the weekend.
The second round begins at 8 a.m. and live scoring can be found at LSUsports.net through Golfstat.com.
Mason Rudolph Women’s Championships
Franklin, Tenn.
First Round Results (Par 288)
1. Auburn 278 -10; 1. Southern California 278 -10; 3. Alabama 280 -8; 3. Arizona State 280 -8; 5. Duke 283 -5; 6. UCLA 284 -4; 7. Georgia 285 -3; 7. Oklahoma State 285 -3; 7. Vanderbilt 285 -3; 10. LSU 286 -2; 10. Arizona 286 -2; 12. Stanford 287 -1; 13. Texas 290 +2; 14. Virginia 292 +4; 14. Florida 292 +4; 16. Tulane 296 +8; 17. South Carolina 300 +12.
Individual Top 5 (Par 72)
1. Candace Schepperle, Auburn, 66 -6; 1. Jennifer Song, Southern California, 66 -6; 3. Cydney Clanton, Auburn, 67 -5; 4. Marina Alex, Vanderbilt, 68 -4; 4. Isabelle Boineau, Arizona, 68 -4; 4. Camilla Lennarth, Alabama, 68 -4; 4. Margarita Ramos, Arizona, 68 -4.
LSU Scores
T15. Tessa Teachman 70 -2
T15. Megan McChrystal 70 -2
T36. Mary Michael Maggio 72 E
T57. Amalie Valle 74 +2
T76. Jacqueline Hedwall 76 +4