PARRISH, Fla. – LSU freshman Austin Ernst captured her first collegiate tournament title with a one stroke win in the Central District Invitational at the River Wilderness Golf Club here Tuesday.
Ernst, who hails from Seneca, S.C. and played in two fall events for the Tigers, becomes the 14th LSU women’s golfer to win an individual title in the program’s history that dates back to 1979. It is the 34th individual title won by an LSU women’s golfer, the second in the 2010-11 season.
Ernst, ranked 39th in the country in the Golfstat rankings, rallied from three shots down in the final round as Brooke Beeler of TCU held the 36-hole overnight lead at six-under par 138. But Beeler shot a four-over 76 on the day and Ernst was going along steadily through the first 17 holes at two under par with birdies on the 12th and 13th holes giving her the lead at five-under for the tournament.
Coming to the 54th hole with a three-shot lead, Ernst’s win was unaffected when she struggled with a sandy lie on her third shot and then eventually missed her bogey putt, settling for a double bogey and a round of even par 72 to finish at three-under par 213, one shot ahead of Beeler.
“I’m very proud of Austin,” said LSU women’s golf coach Karen Bahnsen. “This is a big thing for her to build on.”
Ernst finished with rounds of 72-69-72, while Beeler finished at two-under 214 for second (65-73-76). Laurence Herman of Iowa State and Megan McChrystal of LSU finished third at even par 216 as McChrystal had rounds of 71-72-73.
Sixteenth-ranked Iowa State posted a strong round of five-under par 283 to rally past LSU on the final day. The No. 4 Lady Tigers looked like they were set up for a rally finish of their own on the back nine, cutting a nine-stroke advantage down to two with three holes to play, but in the end, the holes that hurt the Lady Tigers on the first day came up again to cause problems as LSU lost several strokes all three rounds on the final holes in their shotgun positions, most notably 16-18.
“Those are tough holes,” said Bahnsen. “But we have to be in a competitively tough mode all the way around the course from start to finish and it happened all three rounds. I saw a lot of good golf, but we couldn’t finish each round. It’s disappointing but being able to play again (in the spring season opener) gives us a lot to build on. Iowa State deserves a lot of credit. They putted so great (Tuesday). They made a lot of putts. Even then we got to within a couple of shots before we got to the end of the round.”
Iowa State finished at 283 to take the 54-hole event with a score of 868 (289-296-283), while LSU takes its third second spot of the year at 877 (293-290-294). Texas A&M was four shots back in third at 881 (290-294-297).
Besides the 72 of Ernst, the Tigers counted on the final day a one-over 73 from McChrystal and Jacqueline Hedwall and a four-over 76 from Mary Michael Maggio. Maggio finished in a tie for 19th place at seven-over par 223.
The Tigers are next back in action on Feb. 27 in New Orleans at English Turn for the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate Championship where McChrystal will defend the individual championship she won a year ago at the Tiger-Wave Golf Classic.
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CENTRAL DISTRICT INVITATIONAL
Parrish, Fla.
Final Team Results (Par 288-864)
1. Iowa State 289-296-283 – 868 +4; 2. LSU 293-290-294 – 877 +13; 3. Texas A&M 290-294-297 – 881 +17; 4. TCU 290-297-300 – 887 +23; 5. Michigan State 300-303-285 – 888 +24; 6. Northwestern 294-304-295 – 893 +29; 7. Ohio State 303-302-290 – 896 +31; 8. Kent State 303-293-301 – 897 +33; 9. Michigan 301-302-298 – 901 +37; 10. Notre Dame 303-308-293 – 904 +40; 11. Arkansas 302-309-298 – 909 +45; 12. Minnesota 307-300-303 – 910 +46; 13. Indiana 304-312-299 – 915 +51; 14. Baylor 303-314-305 – 922; 15. Missouri 313-321-305 – 939 +75.
Individual Top 5 (Par 72-216)
1. Austin Ernst, LSU, 72-69-72 – 213 -3; 2. Brooke Beeler, TCU, 65-73-76 – 214 -2; 3. Laurence Herman, iowa State, 76-71-69 – 216 E; 3. Megan McChrystal, LSU, 71-72-73 – 216 E; 5. Mercedes Gemino, Kent State, 71-71-75 – 217 +1; 5. Katerina Ruzickova, Texas A&M 69-74-74 – 217 +1.
LSU Scoring
1. Austin Ernst 72-69-72 – 213 -3
T3. Megan McChrystal, 71-72-73 – 216 E
T19. Mary Michael Maggio 73-74-76 – 223 +7
T26. Jacqueline Hedwall 77-75-73 – 225 +9
T62. Tessa Teachman 80-77-77 – 234 +18