LSU Gold

Lady Tigers Earn No. 3 Seed in NCAA Central Region

by Kent Lowe (@LSUkent)
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Lady Tigers Earn No. 3 Seed in NCAA Central Region

BATON ROUGE – The LSU women’s golf team was invited to participate in an NCAA golf regional for the eighth straight year when the NCAA announced the 72-team field Monday evening in a national teleconference.

The women’s team will be part of the 24-team field competing in the Central Regional at the University of Notre Dame’s Warren Golf Course in South Bend, Ind. It is one of three NCAA regionals that will feed teams into the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships at Bryan, Texas, May 18-21.

LSU, ranked eighth in the latest Golfstat Cup rankings, is the third seed in the 24-team field. The remainder of the regional field in seed order with Golfstat ranking in parenthesis: 1. UCLA (2); 2. Duke (5), 4. Arkansas (11); 5. Wake Forest (16); 6. Texas (20); 7. Tulane (14); 8. Stanford (24); 9. Notre Dame (25); 10. Ohio State (30); 11. Kent State (32); 12. Chattanooga (35); 13. Northwestern (40); 14. Minnesota (39); 15. UNLV (43); 16. Oklahoma State (48); 17. North Texas (45); 18. Wisconsin (56); 19. East Carolina (54); 20. Michigan (59); 21. Illinois (61); 22. Morehead State (90); 23. Illinois State (146); 24. Butler (158). 

The top eight teams from each of the three regionals (the others are at Daytona Beach, Fla., and Seattle, Wash.) and the top two individuals not on those eight teams advance to the NCAA Championships.

LSU has advanced to regional play 17 times since the current format was adopted in 1993. LSU has missed only twice (1994, 2003) in that time span.

The Warren Golf Course at Notre Dame is familiar to the LSU golf program as the LSU men’s team advanced through to the NCAA men’s championship after finishing in the top five of the regional at Notre Dame. The course opened in 1999 but is billed as a “throwback to the designs of the early 20th century.” The course will play at par 72 and 6,208 yards.

“We are very excited about what lies ahead of us,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen.  “It’s where I thought we were going to end up going. The good news is that it is a really good golf course. The men played there last year and qualified out of there.  We look forward to some good things happening for us there.  The girls are going to be up to the challenge. It’s going to be a little cooler than we have seen, but that’s all right. Everyone is playing in the same conditions and that’s all that matters. We are really looking forward to going up there.”

LSU as a team has advanced to the Division I Championship 10 times, missing a third straight appearance last year by just one shot. Megan McChrystal qualified as an individual and shot a school, NCAA and course record 64 in the final round to finish fifth. It is the first time LSU has played in the Central Regional since 2008. LSU was in the West Regional in both 2009 and 2010.

In all, 11 of the 12 Southeastern Conference teams advanced to regional play. Alabama is the No. 1 seed in the East Regional with SEC Champion Auburn seeded fifth. Georgia is the top SEC seed in the West, seeded fourth.

CENTRAL REGIONAL
Warren GC, Notre Dame, Ind. Host: Notre Dame.

Pos.. School [Qualifying Conference]
1. UCLA
2. Duke
3. LSU
4. Arkansas
5. Wake Forest
6. Texas [Big 12]
7. Tulane
8. Stanford
9. Notre Dame [Big East]
10. Ohio State
11. Kent State [Mid-America]
12. Chattanooga [Southern]
13. Northwestern
14. Minnesota
15. UNLV
16. Oklahoma State
17. North Texas
18. Wisconsin
19. East Carolina
20. Michigan
21. Illinois
22. Morehead State [Ohio Valley]
23. Illinois State [Missouri Valley]
24. Butler [Horizon]

Pos.. Individual (School)
1. Harin Lee (St. John’s (N.Y))
2. Lindsay Gahm (Indiana)
3. Bonnie Hu (Harvard)
4. Nina Muehl (E. Tennessee State)
5. Brittany Kelly (Ball State)
6. Britney Hamilton (Western Michigan)

EAST REGIONAL
LPGA International, Daytona Beach, Fla. Host: Washington.

Pos.. School [Qualifying Conference]
1. Alabama
2. Purdue
3. California
4. Arizona State
5. Auburn [Southeastern]
6. Michigan State [Big Ten]
7. North Carolina [Atlantic Coast]
8. Vanderbilt
9. Florida
10. Florida State
11. Colorado
12. TCU [Mountain West]
13. Louisville
14. Mississippi
15. Texas Tech
16. FIU
17. Coastal Carolina [Big South]
18. Augusta State
19. Yale [Ivy League]
20. Kentucky
21. Stetson [Atlantic Sun]
22. North Carolina Wilmington [Colonial Athletic Association]
23. Fairleigh Dickinson [Northeast]
24. Alabama State [SWAC]

Pos.. Individual (School)
1. Shena Yang (South Florida)
2. Charlotte Lorentzen (Georgia State)
3. Stefanie Kenoyer (Furman)
4. Kelly Shon (Princeton)
5. Maria Ronderos (Miami)
6. Leigh Whittaker (College of Charleston)

WEST REGIONAL
Washington National GC, Auburn, Wash. Host: Stetson, Central Florida Sports Commission.

Pos.. School [Qualifying Conference]
1. USC [Pac-10]
2. Virginia
3. Arizona
4. Georgia
5. Tennessee
6. Pepperdine
7. Iowa State
8. UC Davis [Big West]
9. Texas A&M
10. Oklahoma
11. Oregon
12. South Carolina
13. Washington
14. Tulsa
15. Denver [Sun Belt]
16. San Diego State
17. Brigham Young
18. New Mexico
19. UTSA [Southland]
20. Portland [Big Sky]
21. New Mexico State
22. San Jose State [Western Athletic]
23. Oral Roberts [Summit League]
24. UTEP [C-USA]

Pos.. Individual (School)
1. Kayla Mortellaro (Idaho)
2. Teo Poplawski (Idaho)
3. Amy Anderson (North Dakota State)
4. Brianna Espinoza (Colorado State)
5. Jessica Hollandsworth (Maryland)
6. Chelsey Cothran (Baylor)