BATON ROUGE — Day-after-day the LSU Lady Tigers practice on the grounds of the University Club in Baton Rouge. They know the characteristics of this links-style course, they know what to do when the wind blows and how to score low when the conditions allow. Most of all, they are a confident bunch on the home 18 holes and it showed Friday when the Lady Tigers parlayed home course advantage into a five-shot lead after the first round of the LSU/Cleveland Golf Classic at the school’s University Club Friday.
The Tigers shot their best round of the year, a 12-over 300, bettering a 305 shot in the first round in a fall tournament, to open up five shots on North Carolina Wilmington and College of Charleston.
Those three teams will be paired in the final wave of the second round off the first hole starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday. The round begins at 8:30 a.m. with admission free to the general public.
Augusta State is in fourth place after one round at 309, with the top five rounded out by a three-way tie at 312 (Western Carolina, Jacksonville State and Tulane).
There is a three-way tie for the individual lead after a spectacular round of even par by junior Devon Day. The Greer, S. C., product, who attended high school in Abilene, Texas, may be one the University Club is suited for as her best two tournament performances have come in the LSU/Cleveland Golf Classic.
Day turned the round at 3-under par 33, completing the side with the first birdie to that point of the round at No. 9. Her even par score of 72 is tied for the 18-hole lead with Leah Hart of Augusta State and Jennifer Bridwell of Charleston. Bridwell was the most consistent golfer of the day with even pars 36 on both nines.
Yunuen Sanchez of UNCW and Lindsay Hulwick of Tulane are tied for fourth at 2-over 74. A total of 21 golfers are within five shots of the lead after one round.
But it was the performance of the Lady Tigers which had people talking as LSU had three golfers in the top six and all four counting scores were in the top 22 – Day 72 (t1), Vicky Meyer and Brooke Shelton 75 (t6) and Rachel Overstreet 78 (t22).
“This team really had a lot of confidence going into the round and they really showed it in their play,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen, owner of six LSU/Cleveland Golf Classic titles as the LSU head coach. “I was very pleased and very excited for Devon Day with her round. It was just a great day and hopefully we can go out with that same drive and confidence in round two (Saturday).”
LSU’s Meyer, the freshman from Brazil who came in between semesters, shot her three-over 75 despite a painful heavily-wrapped left lower leg thanks to a tendon problem that slowed her walked but still allowed the owner of LSU’s only top 10 finish to fully swing.
Besides Tulane, UNO is the other in-state team in the tournament and they will start the second round at 49-over par 337, 14th place.
LSU/Cleveland Golf Classic Results
At University Club Baton Rouge, La.
Team Results (Par 288)
1. LSU 330 +12
2. North Carolina Wilmington 305 +17
3. Charleston 307 +19
4. Augusta State 309 +21
5. Western Carolina 312 +24
5. Jacksonville State 312 +24
5. Tulane University 312 +24
8. Memphis 313 +25
9. Mississippi State 314 +26
10. UAB 315 +27
11. Texas A&M Corpus Christi 316 +28
12. Yale 317 +29
13. Birmingham Southern 322 +34
14. New Orleans 337 +49
Individual Top 25 (Par 72)
1. Devon Day, LSU, 33-39 – 72 E
1. Jennifer Bridwell, Charleston, 36-36 – 72 E
1. Leah Hart, Augusta State, 37-35 – 72 E
4. Yunuen Sanchez, UNCW, 36-38 – 74 +2
4. Lindsay Hulwick, Tulane, 38-36 – 74 +2
6. Vicky Meyer, LSU, 36-39 – 75 +3
6. Brooke Shelton, LSU, 38-37 – 75 +3
6. Jenn Bellso, Charleston, 38-37 – 75 +3
6. Line Cordes, Western Carolina, 38-37 – 75 +3
6. Lauren Smith, Augusta St., 36-39 – 75 +3
11. Angie Green, Jacksonville St., 39-37 – 76 +4
11. Shelley McGraw, Birmingham So., 36-40 – 76 +4
11. Amelie Farrah, UNCW, 38-38 – 76 +4
11. Ashlie Simmons, Corpus Christi, 39-37 – 76 +4
11. January Romero, Yale, 39-37 – 76 +4
11. Marilen F. Ruiz, Jacksonville St., 39-37 – 76 +4
17. Becky Berzonski, UNCW, 38-39 – 77 +5
17. Danielle Reily, Memphis, 39-38 – 77 +5
17. Liz Schweihs, WAB, 37-40 – 77 +5
17. Carolin Landmann, Tulane, 39-38 – 77 +5
17. Alessandra Perez, Corpus Christi, 41-36 – 77 +5
22. Natalie Booth, Miss. St., 38-40 – 78 +6
22. Beth Irwin, Miss. St., 40-38 – 78 +6
22. Janey Deimling, UAB, 38-40 – 78 +6
22. Rachel Overstreet, LSU, 40-38 – 78 +6
22. Josey Edwards, Memphis, 41-37 – 78 +6
22. Audrey Gale, UNCW, 38-40 – 78 +6
22. Kathy Schafer, Tulane, 39-39 – 78 +6
22. Rebecca Struthers, LSU, 38-40 – 78 +6
LSU Results
T1. Devon Day 33-39 – 72 E
T6. Vicky Meyer 36-39 – 75 +3
T6. Brooke Shelton 38-37 – 75 +3
T22. Rachel Overstreet 40-38 – 78 +6
T22. Rebecca Struthers 40-38 – 78 +6
T30. Isabel Dornellas 40-39 – 79 +7
T52. Erin Sarver 35-46 – 81 +9
57. Analia Lemus 41-41 – 82 +10