EAST LANSING, Mich. – The LSU women’s golf team is in 12th place following the First Round of the 2019 NCAA East Lansing Regional. The Tigers shot 16-over 304 at the Forest Akers West Golf Course, battling weather throughout the day.
“Being such a young team, with this being the first national postseason round for four of the five players, I think they handled the situation very well,” said LSU first-year head coach Garrett Runion. “They showed no signs of nerves and got off to a good start. We hung around all day and unfortunately gave a few strokes back on 18, which is one of the tougher holes out here and happened to be when the wind and rain began to pick up.”
Presley Baggett led the way for the Tigers with a team-low 2-over 74 in her NCAA Regional debut. The rookie from Canton, Mississippi, shot 2-over on the front nine, then even par on the back. In a tie for 29th overall, she picked up birdies on No. 5 and No. 15.
Junior Monica Dibildox and freshman Alden Wallace each posted a 4-over 76, while senior Kathleen Gallagher scored with a 6-over 78.
“We knew the leaderboard would be bunched up and if we can eliminate a few simple mistakes like three-putting and make one or two more birdies, it can drastically change our position on the leaderboard,” continued Runion. “It looks like we will be the first off tomorrow in the cold and rain, but our ladies know it’s a good opportunity to go out, be aggressive and climb up the leaderboard.”
LSU is bunched up with six teams within two-ten strokes and will be paired up with Xavier and Augusta for the Second Round on Tuesday. Kendall Griffin will get things started for LSU at 7 a.m. CT from Hole No. 10. Live scoring will be available at GolfStat.com.
2019 NCAA East Lansing Regional Team Standings (After Round 1)
1. #12 Kent State – 282 -6
2. #5 Arizona – 290 +2
3. #28 Illinois – 292 +4
4. Indiana – 293 +5
4. #20 Michigan State – 293 +5
6. #21 Campbell – 294 +6
7. #14 UCLA – 296 +8
8. #4 Stanford – 298 +10
8. #32 Baylor – 298 +10
10. Xavier – 299 +11
11. #45 Augusta – 302 +14
12. LSU – 304 +16
13. #41 Louisville – 305 +17
14. #39 Georgia – 306 +18
14. #33 North Carolina – 306 +18
16. Long Beach State – 307 +19
17. Harvard – 309 +21
18. IUPUI – 316 +28
LSU Individual Scores (After Round 1)
T29. Presley Baggett – 74 +2
T43. Monica Dibildox – 76 +4
T43. Alden Wallace – 76 +4
T67. Kathleen Gallagher – 78 +6
T74. Kendall Griffin – 79 +7