BATON ROUGE – The LSU women’s golf team added two players for the 2015-16 season as national letter-of-intent papers were received and approved by the athletics department for Kathleen Gallagher of Greenwood, Mississippi and Marina Hedlund of Leksand, Sweden.
Gallagher becomes the first daughter of a former member of the Lady Tiger golf team to sign with LSU in its 35-year history. Her mother, Cissye (Meeks) Gallagher, played for the Lady Tigers from 1985-88 and was coached by present LSU women’s golf coach Karen Bahnsen.
Meeks as a Lady Tiger won the 1988 USA/Gulf Shores Invitational, and was part of teams that won seven tournament titles and finished ninth in the 1986 NCAA Championships.
Kathleen Gallagher’s dad is Jim Gallagher, Jr., a 5-time winner on the PGA Tour and Golf Channel analyst. Kathleen’s aunt, Jackie Gallagher-Smith, played at LSU as well and is one of three former LSU golfers to have a victory on the LPGA tour.
Kathleen won the 2013 Mississippi State Amateur Championship, an event her mother, Cissye, has won 11 times. Kathleen lost in the 2014 final to her older sister, Mary Langdon, in an all-Gallagher state championship. Kathleen and Cissye teamed up in 2013 for the first time as part of the team representing the state of Mississippi in the USGA Women’s State Team Championship.
Kathleen Gallagher has also won the Mississippi State Junior title and made match play in the 2012 U.S. Junior Championship.
She attends Pillow Academy where she is also an All-Conference basketball player. In 2013, she was the “PopStar” award for the top high school female golfer in the state.
Hedlund, who attends Filborn Skolan, was like senior LSU golfer Madelene Sagstrom, a member of the Swedish National team. She enjoyed time as an elite alpine skier, but decided to make golf her primary sport.
She had a tremendous two-year run in the Irish Girls U18 Championships, finishing second in 2013 and third in the 2014 renewal of the event. She also has an eighth place finish in 2013 French Ladies Championship.
“I am very excited to have Kathleen and Marina join the LSU women’s golf program,” said Coach Bahnsen. “This will be the first second generation golfer that we have had at LSU in the women’s golf program. I was very fortunate to coach her mom, Cissye, in my early years as a head coach and we are happy to have her joining us next year.
“Marina gives us another member of the Swedish National Team and she will fit in with our team very nicely,” Coach Bahnsen said. “We look forward to having both of these players join our team and help us in our goal to win championships in the future.”