NEW ORLEANS – Baton Rouge sophomore Sydney Cavin of LSU rallied from seventh to finish as the individual medalist Tuesday in the conclusion of the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate at the English Turn Country Club.
The graduate of The Dunham School, posted a 3-under 69, playing the final hole of the three-day event after a short delay because of the weather system in the area. English Turn proved to be one of the least affected areas during the brunt of the storm in South Louisiana.
For Cavin, it is her first college victory and her first 10 as a member of the Lady Tigers. She opened the tournament with a 69 and followed that with a 1-over 73 to stand at 2-under and in a tie for seventh, four shots back heading to Tuesday’s final round.
Cavin opened the final round on hole six and after going birdie-bogey on the first two holes, posted birdies on holes 9, 11 and 13 and pars the rest of the way, including the par 4 fifth after the lightening delay to finish with a second 69 and a 5-under total of 211 (69-73-69). The Lady Tiger had the lead after completing the 18th hole, her 13th of the day.
Second-round leader Lauren Kim of Stanford fell to a 75 on the final day and finished in sixth place with a three-day total of 3-under 213 (68-70-75).
Cavin parred the final five holes as Michigan State’s Sarah Burnham, who started on the 10th hole, birdied the sixth and ninth to complete her round of 2-under 70 that got her also to 5-under for the event (70-71-70).
At that point, going back to the course was not probably not a possibility so it was decided to have a scorecard playoff on the holes on the back nine and Cavin wins with the birdies on 11 and 13 and seven pars to Burnham’s birdie on 16 with eight pars to give Cavin the title.
“It has been awesome,” Cavin said afterwards about the emotion of the title. “This just goes to show that hard work pays off. I kept fighting out there and it’s really good to see the results.”
It marked the second straight year LSU players won the title as Madelene Sagstrom and Caroline Nistrup were declared co-medalists a year ago in the event.
Cavin never thought the four-stroke disadvantage starting the round was a hindrance. “It wasn’t until I figured out where I was (Monday) and got off to a pretty good start (Tuesday) that I thought I had it. I was just trying to get as much good golf in before the rain came.”
It was with the lead and in the fairway of her final hole that play was suspended and if the round couldn’t have restarted, the scores would have reverted back to the end of play on Monday and her chance to win would turn into a seventh place tie.
“That rain delay was pretty nerve racking,” Cavin said. “I knew I only had about three shots left, but it all might have counted for nothing. I was in the fairway of my last hole, but the rain was picking up, so I was just focusing on playing it safe and finishing.”
Finishing what would be a career defining three days as she joins the list of LSU players that have a victory for the Lady Tigers.
As a team, LSU would finish 12th at 31-over par after an 18-over par 306 in the final round. Kathleen Gallagher had a 77 to go with Cavin’s round while Carly Goldstein and Nadine Dreher posted 81 and Elise Bradley 81.
LSU will next be in action starting on March 4 at the Darius Rucker Invitational at Hilton Head, South Carolina. Follow updates at www.Facebook.com/LSUwomensgolf and on Twitter @LSUwomensgolf.
Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate
New Orleans, Louisiana – English Turn and Country Club
Final Team Results – Par 288-864
1. Florida 288-281-293 – 862 -2; 2. Oklahoma State 289-289-287 – 863 -1; 3. Alabama 292-288-288 – 868 +4; 4. Arizona 287-290-293 – 870 +6; 5. Texas 297-289-293 – 879 +15; T6. Tulane 288-295-298 – 881 +17; T6 UCLA 298-293-290 – 881 +17; T8. Miami 292-302-294 – 887 +23; T8 Michigan State 301-289-297 – 887 +23; 10. Stanford 296-293 -299 – 888; 11. Virginia 304-286-299 – 889 +25; 12. LSU 298-291-306 – 895 +31; T13. Miss. State 303-302-292 – 897 +33; T13. Denver 304-290-303 – 897 +33; 15. Clemson 293-296-313 – 902 +38; 16. UCF 305-302-304 – 911 +47; 17 UC Davis 306-302-305 – 913 +49.
Individual Top 5 (Par 72-216)
1. Sydney Cavin, LSU, 69-73-69 – 211 -5 (wins scorecard playoff); 2. Sarah Burnham, Michigan State, 70-71-70 – 211 -5; 3. Emma Talley, Alabama, 70-69-73 – 212 -4; 3. Karolina Vickova, Florida, 72-70-70 – 212 -4; 3. Haley Mills, Texas, 72-70-70 – 212 -4.
LSU Scores.
1. Sydney Cavin 69-73-69 – 211 -5
T54. Kathleen Gallagher 76-73-77 – 226 +10
T60. Nadine Dreher 76-73-80 – 229 +13
T67. Elise Bradley 77-72-81 – 230 +14
T77. Carly Goldstein 81-74-80 – 235 +19
82. Lana Hodge 81-76-82 – 239 +23