BATON ROUGE – As the 2011-12 golf season begins this coming week, LSU sophomore Austin Ernst was voted No. 3 on the list of the top 10 women’s golfers to watch this coming season by Golf Digest/Golf World college writer Ryan Herrington.
Ernst, who with the fourth-ranked Lady Tigers begin fall season play Sunday at the College of Charleston Cougar Classic, is the defending NCAA D1 Champion. She fired two rounds of six-under 66 in the championships last May, finishing with a 72-hole record of seven-under par 281 at Bryan, Texas.
The sophomore, from Seneca, S.C., was the first freshman to win the NCAA medalist honors since 1998. Ernst returned to LSU for summer school classes and then advanced all the way to the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur last month.
Ernst is one of six Southeastern Conference golfers in the top 10 entering fall play, with Georgia senior Martz Silva Zamora at No. 1. Emily Tubert of Arkansas, also entering her sophomore season, is ranked No. 5. Tubert caddied for Ernst in the match play portion of the Women’s Amateur.