HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – The nationally-ranked LSU women’s golf team posted another strong performance on its resume’ Sunday as the Lady Tigers finished in a tie for second in the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate at the Long Cove Club.
Plus, LSU senior golfer Madelene Sagstrom just missed back-to-back individual championships, falling in a playoff for the title after a second straight round of 3-under 68.
For the Lady Tigers, ranked seventh in the Golfweek/Sagarin performance rankings and eighth in the Golfstat rankings, the tournament continues a run of success for LSU that includes two wins and two second place finishes in the last four tournaments. That sets things up nicely for LSU’s regular season finale, the annual home event at the University Club in Baton Rouge, the LSU Tiger Golf Classic (March 27-29).
LSU posted its second best round of the weekend, a 6-over 290 to post a 54-hole total of 15-over 867, tying for second with Golfstat No. 3 Southern California, also at 15-over 867 (285-296-286). Duke, ranked sixth by Golfstat, successfully defended its Rucker championship with a three-day total of 6-over 858 (293-283-282).
The top three teams dominated the event and it was another 22 shots back to fourth-place Tennessee at 37-over 889.
Sagstrom handled the Long Cove Club well all weekend and no more so than Sunday with three birdies and 15 pars on her scorecard. Sagstrom birdied the par 4 7th hole and the par 3 8th hole to turn at 2-under 34 and then got a birdie on the par 5 15th hole to post 6-under 207 (71-68-68). Duke’s Leona Maguire, who fired the women’s competitive record of 65 on Saturday, had to rally with birdies on the 14th, 16th and 18th holes (all par 4s) to get in at 2-under 69 and force the playoff at 207. Maguire had rounds of 73-65-69.
So for the second year in a row, an LSU player was in a playoff for the individual title as Caroline Nistrup as a freshman tied for the title in last year’s Rucker.
On the 18th for the playoff, Maguire was able to make about a 12-footer for birdie while Sagstrom was unable to match to give Maguire the title.
Sagstrom had 12 birdies over the course of the 54-hole event, playing the par 3s in a tournament best 3-under and the par 5s in a tournament best 4-under par.
“I’m very proud of the team,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen after the final round. “They played great in what was a very, very good field of teams. We look forward now to playing at home in a couple of weeks.”
Nistrup, now a sophomore, posted an even par 71 in the final round for LSU and also had a top 10 finish at 4-over 217 (71-75-71), getting into a group tied for seventh. The sophomore had two birdies and an eagle on her final round scorecard.
LSU also counted a 4-over 75 from Carly Ray Goldstein (T23, 78-70-75 – 223) and a 76 from Nadine Dreher at 225, tying for 30th.
DARIUS RUCKER INTERCOLLEGIATE
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Long Cove Club
Final Team Results (Par 284-854)
1. Duke 293-283-282 – 858 +6; 2. LSU 291-286-290 – 867 +15; 2. Southern California 285-296-286 – 867 +15; 4. Tennessee 300-294-295 – 889 +37; 5. South Carolina 299-293-298 – 890 +38; 5. Wake Forest 303-293-294 – 890 +38; 7. Mississippi State 300-291-301 – 892 +40; 8. Virginia 304-303-293 – 900 +48; 9. Arkansas 293-306-302 – 901 +49; 10. Furman 300-297-305 – 902 +50; 11. Alabama 303-301-299 – 903 +51; 12. Vanderbilt 301-306-298 – 905 +53; 13. Arizona State 298-308-301 – 907 +55; 14. North Carolina 293-312-303 – 908 +56; 14. Auburn 298-307-303 – 908 +56; 16. Kentucky 310-309-298 – 917 +65; 17. Georgia 303-311-311 – 925 +73.
Individual Top 5 (Par 71-216)
1. Leona Maguire, Duke, 73-65-69 – 207 -6 (wins playoff on first playoff hole); 2. Madelene Sagstrom, LSU, 71-68-68 – 207 -6; 3. Sandy Choi, Duke, 74-70-70 – 214 +2; 3. Gabriella Then, Southern California, 69-72-73 – 214 +1; 5. Lauren Diaz-Yi, Virginia, 73-73-70 – 216 +3; 5. Noemi Jimenez, Arizona State, 71-72-73 – 216 +3.
LSU Scores
2. Madelene Sagstrom 71-68-68 – 207 -6
T7. Caroline Nistrup 71-75-71 – 217 +4
T23. Carly Ray Goldstein 78-70-75 – 223 +10
T30. Nadine Dreher 75-74-76 – 225 +12
T54. Elise Bradley 74-74-81 – 229 +16