BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – LSU women’s golfer, Madelene Sagstrom, posted a final round of 3-under 69 to finish with her second career top 5 in the SEC Championships as the 2015 edition of the women’s championship came to a conclusion Sunday afternoon at the Greystone Country Club’s Legacy Course.
The round was highlighted by an eagle 3 on the par 5 18th hole, one of five eagles in the 54-hole event.
Sagstrom posted a 54-hole total of 211, -5 (72-70-69) to finish alone in third place. Individual winner Blanca Fabrizio birdied the last three holes to shoot 70 and win the title with a three-day total of -9, 207. Maddie Szeryk of A&M finished second at -7 209 with a 69 on the final day.
For Sagstrom, ranked second in the country in the Golfstat and Golfweek rankings, and the second active leader in stroke average in the SEC, it marked her second time to finish in the top 10 in the league championships. As a freshman, the native of Sweden tied for fourth in 2012 with rounds of 72-73-78 – 223.
Sagstrom started her round much the same as on Saturday with bogeys on the first two holes she played (the fourth and fifth), but on the back nine (holes 10-18 on the course, her numbers 7-15 of the round, Sagstrom birdied the par 4 10th and 12th holes and then with the eagle turned that nine in 32 and added a birdie on the final hole, the third on the course.
The final round shotgun start was pushed back 90 minutes to 11:30 a.m. after heavy overnight rains and another heavy rain squall between 7 and 9:30 a.m. But except for a brief shower late in the round and an hour delay late for lightening, skies held and the sunshine even escorted the teams over the final holes. For a tournament that some hoped would get through 18 holes, all 54 were finally recorded around 6 p.m. Sunday.
LSU finished in seventh place at 25-over par 889 after a round of +9, 297. That followed rounds of 299 on Friday and 293 on Saturday.
Caroline Nistrup finished up with a round of 2-over 74 and finished at 2-over 218 for the 54-holes (70-74-74) to finish in a group tied for 12th after finishing in T24 as a freshman. LSU also counted on the final day a fine 75 from freshman Claudia De Antonio who finished her first post-season event on a high note, and 79s from Elise Bradley and Carly Ray Goldstein.
Texas A&M ran away with the team title at the end, shooting 7-under par on the final day to finish at 13-under 851 (293-277-281). South Carolina got within two shots just past the midway point but finished at -1 863 (299-280-284). Vanderbilt was third at +3, 867.
“The girls hung in there and played well on the later holes, but we just weren’t able to get much going all week,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “We will regroup, work on some things in practice and look forward to finding out where our regional selection assignment will be.”
The regional assignments will be announced on Monday, April 27, on The Golf Channel during a late afternoon Golf Central telecast. The Lady Tigers will be making their 21st NCAA regional appearance since the regional qualifying for the NCAA Championship began in 1993.
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Southeastern Conference Women’s Championships
Birmingham, Ala. – Greystone Country Club Legacy Club
Final Team Results (288-864)
1. Texas A&M 293-277-281 – 851 -13
2. South Carolina 299-280-284 – 863 -1
3. Vanderbilt 293-292-282 – 867 +3
4. Tennessee 293-291-294 – 878 +14
5. Alabama 300-288-296 – 844 +20
6. Florida 299-295-292 – 886 +22
7. LSU 299-293-297 – 889 +25
8. Arkansas 300-293-287 – 891 +27
9. Auburn 307-295-290 – 892 +28
10. Georgia 306-289-298 – 893 +29
11. Kentucky 307-297-290 – 894 +30
12. Miss. State 308-291-298 – 897 +33
13. Missouri 307-302-306 – 915 +51
14. Mississippi 310-307-308 – 925 +61
Top 10 Individuals (Par 72-216)
1. Bianca Fabrizio, Texas A&M 70-67-70 – 207 -9
2. Maddie Szeryk, Texas A&M 73-67-79 – 209 -7
3. Madelene Sagstrom, LSU 72-70-69 – 211 -5
T4. Katelyn Dambaugh, South Carolina 73-65-74; Justine Dreher, South Carolina 70-72-70 – 212 -4
6. Emma Talley, Alabama 75-68-70 – 213 -3
T7. Gaby Lopez, Arkansas 71-70-73; Lucia Polo, Tennessee 71-73-70; Kendall Martindale, Vanderbilt, 72-75-67 – 214 -2
T10. Jenny Hahn, Vanderbilt, 67-72-77; Anna Newell, Tennessee – 73-70-73 – 216 E
LSU Scores
3. Madelene Sagstrom 72-70-69 – 211 -5
T12. Caroline Nistrup 70-74-74 – 218 +2
T47. Elise Bradley 78-72-79 – 229 +13
T58. Claudia DeAntonio 80-78-75 – 233 +17
63. Carly Ray Goldstein 79-77-79 – 235 +19