KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 3 ranked LSU women’s golf team struggled on their opening nine holes Friday and finished in 18th place after first round of the Mercedes-Benz SEC-Pac 12 Challenge at the Holston Hills Country Club.
LSU posted a 19-over 307, while No. 1 ranked UCLA (the defending champion in the challenge) is leading at 7-under par 281. The Bruins are three-shots ahead of Alabama of the SEC at 4-under 284. It is another seven shots back to host Tennessee at 3-over 291.
Stephanie Meadow of Alabama and Lauren Stratton of Vanderbilt are the individual leaders at 4-under par 68 in the massive field of 23 teams from the two conferences and 120 players.
LSU’s top scorer on the day was Jacqueline Hedwall who was able to get four birdies over her final nine holes (1-9 on the course) to get home in 2-over 74, tied for 32nd after the first day of the 54-hole event.
LSU counted 14-over on the first nine holes, starting on hole 10, but did get things going on the front side, shooting a counting 5-over. Madelene Sagstrom posted 4-over 76, while Lindsay Gahm put a 78 on her card. Tessa Teachman had a 7-over 79 and Austin Ernst was never able to recover from a double bogey-bogey-double start, shooting 82.
The tournament continues on Saturday with round two with live scoring at LSUsports.net through Golfstat.com. Follow LSU women’s golf on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/LSUwomensgolf and on Twitter @LSUwomensgolf.
Mercedes-Benz SEC-Pac 12 Championship
Knoxville, Tenn.
First Round Team Results (Par 288)
1. UCLA 281 -7; 2. Alabama 284 -4; 3. Tennessee 291 +3; 4. Colorado 295 +7; 4. Washington 295 +7; 6. Auburn 296 +8; 6. Vanderbilt 296 +8; 6. Arizona 296 +8; 9. Florida 298 +10; 9. Southern Cal 298 +10; 11. California 299 +11; 12. Arizona State 300 +12; 12. Stanford 300 +12; 14. Mississippi 301 +13; 14. Oregon 301 +13; 16. Arkansas 303 +15; 17. Georgia 305 +17; 19. LSU 307 +19; 19. South Carolina 310 +22; 20. Kentucky 312 +24; 20. Washington State 312 +24; 22. Oregon State 313 +25; 23. Mississippi State 317 +29.
Individual Top 5 (Par 72)
1. Stephanie Meadow, Alabama, 68 -4; 1. Lauren Stratton, Vanderbilt, 68 -4; 3. Stephanie Kono, UCLA, 69 -3; 4. Ashleigh Albrecht, Kentucky, 70 -2; 4. Hannah Collier, Alabama, 70 -2; 4. Erynne Lee, UCLA, 70 -2.
LSU Scores
T32. Jacqueline Hedwall 74 +2
T55. Madelene Sagstrom 76 +4
T78. Lindsay Gahm 78 +6
T90. Tessa Teachman 79 +7
T104. Austin Ernst 82 +10