BATON ROUGE – Madelene Sagstrom, a freshman on the No. 2-ranked LSU women’s golf team, was recognized as one of the freshman to watch by Golfweek Magazine writer Julie Williams after their performance in the fall portion of the season.
Williams listed a group of four freshman as being “under the radar” when the season began but “who can no longer be called unknowns.”
Of Sagstrom, from Sweden, who is ranked 40th in the country in the Golfweek/Sagarin performance rankings for all women’s collegiate golfers, Williams wrote: “You can thank sophomore Austin Ernst for setting the bar high for LSU freshmen, and you can be sure that a player who makes it onto head coach Karen Bahnsen‘s roster truly has earned it. NCAA champ Ernst, after all, sat out the first two tournaments last season as she proved she had the game to compete on a squad that logged seven top-3 finishes last year.
“LSU already has two wins this season, and Sagstrom has been a solid contributor in those events, starting in all four fall tournaments with the Tigers and twice finishing in the top 20 (including a T-5 at the Tar Heel Invitational). With a stroke average of 73, Sagstrom falls in third place on the LSU roster, behind Ernst (72.8) and Tessa Teachman (72.9).”
Sagstrom and Ernst will both start play in the International Spirit Cup outside Houston on Wednesday, with Ernst playing for the United States and Sagstrom representing Sweden in the four-player mixed amateur competition.