BATON ROUGE – With a new season set to begin, LSU women’s golf head coach Karen Bahnsen decided to shake up her team’s schedule. The Lady Tigers open 2017-18 competition at the Lady Paladin Invitational, hosted by Furman, in Greenville, South Carolina on Friday, Sept. 22. It is the first of five tournaments on the LSU schedule that will be new venues to the Lady Tigers.
“We have a young team this year, so every tournament is a great opportunity for someone to step up and show us what they can do on the course,” said Bahnsen.
Let’s get the 2017-18 season started! Here is your Lady Tigers starting lineup for the Lady Paladin Invitational! https://t.co/kUpj4vfb7c pic.twitter.com/9YWhddogNu
— LSU Women’s Golf (@LSUwomensGolf) September 21, 2017
With senior Sydney Cavin out for the fall season with a foot injury, Bahnsen is counting on junior Kathleen Gallagher and senior Claudia De Antonio to lead the group into the first weekend of play. Gallagher, playing in the No. 1 slot this week, shot an average 74.41 over 29 rounds last season, while De Antonio averaged 76.94 over 17 rounds.
Freshmen Mary Frances Chauvin and Kendall Griffin will debut in the No. 2 and 3 slots in the lineup. Chauvin was a two-time Louisiana Division I state high school champion for Hammond High Magnet School and won the 2016 LWGA state amateur championship. Griffin, from Sebring High School in Florida, was a state champion as a senior and ranked in the Top 5 in the state all four years of high school. She also teamed with Gallagher at the United States Women’s Amateur Four-Ball competition in May, advancing to the semifinals.
Sophomore Monica Dibildox rounds out the starting lineup. She returns from a rookie season that produced a 76.30 average over 23 rounds. Junior Marina Hedlund is competing as an individual.
Follow updates on LSU women’s golf on Twitter and Instagram at @LSUwomensgolf or on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/LSUwomensgolf. Live results will be available at https://www.birdiefire.com/tournament/38282/. The first tee time for LSU is set for 8 a.m. CT.
2017 Lady Paladin Invitational Starting Lineup
- Kathleen Gallagher, Jr., Greenwood, Miss.
- Mary Frances Chauvin, Fr., Hammond, La.
- Kendall Griffin, Fr., Sebring, Fla.
- Claudia De Antonio, Sr., Caracas, Venezuela
- Monica Dibildox, So., Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico
Ind. Marina Hedlund, Jr., Leksand, Sweden
2017-18 LSU Women’s Golf Schedule
Sept. 22-24, 2017 – Lady Paladin Invitational, Greenville, S.C. – Host: Furman
Oct. 1-3, 2017 – Magnolia Invitational, West Point, Miss. – Host: Mississippi State
Oct. 9-10, 2017 – Betsy Rawls Invitational, Austin, Texas – Host: Texas
Oct. 27-29, 2017 – Landfall Tradition, Wilmington, N.C. – Host: UNC Wilmington
Feb. 18-20, 2018 – Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate, New Orleans – Host: Tulane
March 2-4, 2018 – Darius Rucker Intercollegiate, Hilton Head, S.C. – Host: South Carolina
March 23-25, 2018 – LSU Tiger Golf Classic, Baton Rouge – Host Course: University Club
Apr. 8-10, 2018 – Brickyard Collegiate, Macon, Ga. – Host: Mercer
Apr. 18-22, 2018 – SEC Championship, Birmingham, Ala. – Host Course: Greystone Country Club
May 7-9, 2018 – NCAA Regional, TBD
May 19-23, 2018 – NCAA Championship, Stillwater, Okla. – Host Course: Karsten Creek Golf Club