BRADENTON, Fla. – Sophomore Caroline Nistrup posted two-over par through 16 holes on Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Women’s Golf Championships at “The Concession” Golf Club and stands in a tie for fifth after 34 holes going to the resumption of the second round at approximately 8:30 a.m. ET.
LSU still has four counting players on the course and needs to try to get in with a couple of birdies in the final holes. It remains unclear at press time what the exact plan is for tee times on Sunday when all 24 teams are supposed to play a third round and a cut to 15 teams and the top nine individuals not on those 15 teams. That round sets up for Monday afternoon on Golf Channel and will determine eight teams for match play and crown the individual champion.
The counting Lady Tigers as teams leave the golf course Saturday night is at 49 over par playing holes 15-18 (although actually competing on the front nine) and 28-over for the day. Nadine Dreher is on the green at 18 (the ninth hole on the course) at 8-over, Elise Bradley is about to play the final hole at 10-over, Caroline Nistrup is 2-over through 16 with 8 and 9 to play; and Madelene Sagstrom is +8 through 15 holes with scores to be recorded on 7-9.
Nistrup birdied the par five 13th hole and had three bogeys on her card. At 2-over for the 34 holes, she is right in the thick of the individual competition which is led by Annie Park of Southern Cal who even through 11holes Saturday and 2-under for 29 holes. Emma Talley, finished at 1-under 143 (70-73), is second with Duke’s Leona Maguire (+2 thru 15 today) and A. J. Newell of Tennessee (E thru 15 today) tied for third at +1.
Nistrup at +2 is tied with Mariah Stackhouse (done 68-78, 146), Gaby Lopez of Arkansas and Marissa Dodd of Wake Forest.
The Lady Tigers, ranked sixth in the country, are in 20th place, eight shots out of the 15th spot where the cut will come Sunday night. That number presently is +41 and may be 60 or higher when play ends.
First round leader Stanford, which posted 293 in the opener, was 30 shots worse on Saturday with a 35-over round and dropped to a tie for 11th place at 40-over. Southern Cal on the course is the leader at +14, with Duke at +23 and Tennessee at +27. Baylor is the clubhouse leader in fourth at 28-over 604 (297-307).
Updates on Sunday will be available at www.facebook.com/LSUwomensgolf and on Twitter @LSUwomensgolf. Live scoring is available at golfstatresults.com.
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune headline on Friday was “Course Star of Day 1 of NCAA Championship.”
Well, “The Concession” may have been the star of the first day, but at some point consideration for the perception of women’s golf. This course will be tough next week when the men get here, but is the point to show off “The Concession,” a beautiful course with a great back story of designers and Ryder Cup history. What will it look like when Golf Channel comes on the air and the teams are 40, 50 and even some are predicting 60 for the top 15 on the scoreboard.
The course is beautiful. It is devilishly tricky, but some of the forced carries remind me of the first time three years ago the SECs went to Birmingham. The course was about 400 yards too long and long irons and hybrids were needed into greens and scores were incredibly high. Changes the next year and a complete course switch at the same location made the play of the ladies the star on a great layout.
The championships should absolutely be at “The Concession, but “The Concession” should be bring 125 of 132 players to their knees. Watch closely on Tuesday and Wednesday when match play begins. Let’s see how the course will be set up and if match play finally brings the excitement we all are looking for at this event.
There is a group of famous people who are members at “The Concession” (would love to check their handicap index here) including actor Sean Connery, Ohio State fb coach Urban Meyer, Orioles pitcher Bud Norris, golf instructor David Ledbetter; Fox Sports’ and ex-NFL QB Terry Bradshaw, Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin and LA Clippers Coach Doc Rivers along with several past and present PGA and LPGA stars.
NCAA WOMEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
SECOND ROUND MEDAL PLAY (Par 288-576)
Lightning delayed with 12 teams on course at 7:25 p.m. ET
1. Southern California 297-+5 (11-14); +14
2. Duke 293-+18 (15-18); +23
3. Tennessee 301 -+14 (13-15); +27
4. Baylor 297-307 – 604 +28 F
T5. Purdue 307-302; UC Davis 305-304 – 609 +33 F
7. Arizona 300-+22 (15-18) — +34
8. Northwestern 310-301 – 611 +35 F
9. Texas Tech 319-294 – 613 +37 F
10. Washington 301-+26 (16-18) +39
T11. South Carolina 308-+20 (11-13) +40; Stanford 293-323 – 616 +40 F
T13. Arkansas 310-+19 (16-18) +41; Texas A&M 309-+20 — +41; Alabama 310-307 – 617 +41 F
16. UCLA 319-+11 (11-13) +42
17. Virginia 309-+23 (13-15) +44
18. Wake Forest 310-+24 (13-15) +46
19. Tulane 314-309 – 623 +47
20. LSU 309-+28 (15-18) +49
21. Campbell 315-311 – 626 +50
22. UNLV 305-324 – 629 +53
23. NC State 317-323 – 640 +64
24. California 321-320 – 641 +65
Individual Top 10 (Par 72-144)
1. Annie Park, Southern California 70-E (11) -2
2. Emma Talley, Alabama 70-73 – 143 -1 F
T3. Leona Maguire, Duke 71-+2 (15) +1; A. J. Newell, Tennessee, 73-E (15) +1
T5. Mariah Stackhouse, Stanford, 68-78 – 146 +2; Caroline Nistrup, LSU, 72-+2 (16) +2; Gaby Lopez, Arkansas, 70-+4 (16) +2; Marissa Dodd, Wake Forest, 72-+2 (14), +2.
T9. Suchaya Tangkamolprasert, Northwestern, 73-74 – 147 +3; Monica Vaughn, Arizona State, 75-E (15) +3; Gabriella Then, Southern Cal, 75-E (11), +3
LSU Scores
T5. Caroline Nistrup 72-+2 (16) +2
T64. Madelene Sagstrom 76-+8 (15) +12
T88. Nadine Dreher 80-+8 (17) +16
T109. Elise Bradley 82-+10 (17) +20
T130 Carly Goldstein 81-93 – 174 +30