ROGERS, Ark. — The eighth-ranked LSU women’s golf team put itself back in contention with the second best round of the day, moving from ninth to fourth on Saturday after two rounds of the 2000 Southeastern Conference Women’s Golf Championships at the Pinnacle Country Club.
The Lady Tigers improved its team score 19 shots to a 14-over par 302 and stands at 623 (47-over par). Only Florida, in second, shot a better aggregate than LSU on Saturday, posting a 301.
Auburn remains the leader at 612, after shooting a second consecutive 306, five strokes ahead of Florida at 617. Tennessee is third at 621, two shots better than LSU. Georgia, the tournament favorite and ranked one spot ahead of LSU in the national polls, stumbled a bit on Saturday and fell to fifth at 624.
Now the main question for LSU and the rest of the contestants as they left the course on Saturday was whether the tournament would reach a Sunday conclusion as there was a 70 percent chance of rain in Northwest Arkansas on Easter Sunday. Tournament officials have decided on an 8:45 a.m. shotgun start in an attempt to reach a 54-hole conclusion in the tournament. If the round cannot start by 10:15 a.m., the tournament will be over with Saturday’s results to stand.
Saturday’s round was vintage LSU as Lisette Lee, Meredith Duncan and Lindy Hitdlebaugh all posted 5-over 77s. Tina Howard had a 75 and Katy Wilkinson improved from an 86 on Friday to a 1-over 73.
Howard’s 152 (8-over) stands alone in fifth place and Duncan is in a tie for 12th place.
The Lady Tigers did most of their recovery on the back nine. Lee, who was 8-over par after 10 holes Saturday, birdied the back-to-back par 5s on 13 and 14, then stuck her tee shot close to birdie the course’s signature island green par 3 on 15 to get back to 5-over.
Wilkinson got her round in position for a great finish by also going birdie-birdie on the two back-nine par fives. Hitdlebaugh, coming off a fifth place finish in the LSU/Cleveland Classic a week ago, showed her ability to come back following Friday’s 91 with her 77, fighting back from a double bogey on the opening hole.
“I am very pleased with how things went,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “This was important from so many factors. All the girls really focused in and forget about the first round and it really showed. We are right back in the thick of the competition and hopefully we will have one more round to continue to improve our position.”
LSU hasn’t finished worse than fourth in the tournament since 1994, when it finished eighth. Saturday’s strong round has wiped out the memory of the Friday start which left the Tigers in ninth.
“You can’t worry about the best, just focus on the task at hand and then do it,” Bahnsen said. “We shot well, some of the teams ahead of us didn’t and we’ve moved ourselves into a great position.”
SEC Women’s Golf Championship
Pinnacle Country Club — April 22, 2000
2nd Round Team Results (Par 288-576)
1. Auburn 306-306 — 612 +36
2. Florida 316-301 — 617 +41
3. Tennessee 312-309 — 621 +45
4. LSU 321-302 — 623 +47
5. Georgia 311-313 — 624 +48
6. Mississippi St. 307-322 — 629 +53
6. Arkansas 318-311 — 629 +53
8. Kentucky 314-320 — 634 +58
9. Ole Miss 321-318 — 639 +63
10. South Carolina 314-326 — 640 +64
11. Vandy 328-318 — 646 +69
12. Alabama 323-337 — 660 +84
2nd Round Individual Top 20 (Par 72-144)
1. Brittany Straza, Florida 76-70 — 146 +2
2. Danielle Downey, Auburn 74-73 — 147 +3
3. Young-A Yang, Tennessee 79-71 — 150 +6
3. Celeste Troche, Auburn 73-77 — 150 +6
5. Tina Howard, LSU 77-75 — 152 +8
6. Paula Marti, Florida 76-77 — 153 +9
6. Robyn Rinaldo, Ole Miss 74-79 — 153 +9
6. Kristy Kortuem, Arkansas 77-76 — 153 +9
6. Christina Clausen, Miss. St. 71-82 — 153 +9
10. Johanna Danielsson, Arkansas 77-77 — 154 +10
10. Shauna Estes, Georgia 77-77 — 154 +10
12. Angela Jerman, Georgia 78-77 — 155 +11
12. Marie Allen, Kentucky 76-79 — 155 +11
12. Meredith Duncan, LSU 78-77 — 155 +11
12. Tina Schneeberger, Tennessee 75-80 — 155 +11
12. Laura Henderson, Georgia 76-79 — 155 +11
12. Jeanne Cho, Florida 79-76 — 155 +11
18. Paula Carter, Alabama 78-78 — 156 +12
18. Kristy McPherson, S. Carolina 77-79 — 156 +12
18. Kami Smith, Auburn 77-79 — 156 +12
LSU Scores
5. Tina Howard 77-75 — 152 +8
t12. Meredith Duncan 78-77 — 155 +11
21. Lisette Lee 80-77 — 157 +13
t25. Katy Wilkinson 86-73 — 159 +15
t53. Lindy Hitdlebaugh 91-77 — 168 +24