BATON ROUGE — Amelie Farrah of North Carolina Wilmington posted a tournament-best round of 3-under 69 Saturday to give her UNCW team a two shot lead after two rounds of the LSU/Cleveland Golf Classic over the host Lady Tigers at the University Club.
UNCW has a two-round score of 597, 21-over par, and the Lady Tigers are at 23-over 599 after their two best rounds of the season, including today’s 11-over 299 round, the first time under 300 by this group of LSU players.
The second round was delayed one hour and 48 minutes by lightning and rain in the Baton Rouge area that played havoc with several LSU sports events. The final round is now scheduled for a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. to allow all the teams to get on the par 72 course at the same time and hopefully allow for a conclusion to the tournament. There is a 50-percent chance of heavy thunderstorms on Sunday.
LSU and UNCW went at it paired together Saturday like it was the final round of the tournament, swapping the lead back and forth. It appeared LSU might go into Sunday with a one-shot advantage just before Farrah’s score was posted. UNCW spent a good portion of the round under par and finished just four over par at 292 as Becky Berzonski also had it under par for the leaders with a 1-under 71.
LSU had solid round with the non-counting score of the day being just a 77. Devon Day, followed her strong even-par start with a 75, while Brooke Shelton and Rachel Overstreet brought home the team’s low rounds of the day with 2-over 74s. Isabel Dornellas rounded out the counting rounds with a 76.
Also under 300 on the day was Tulane, who rallied from a 312 opening day score to post a 6-over 294 and the Wave is just nine shots out of the lead at 30-over 606, two ahead of Memphis and Charleston, tied for fourth at 32-over. UNO is 14th in the field at 68-over 644 after improving 30 strokes from round one on Saturday.
Leah Hart of Augusta State hasn’t gotten a lot of attention this week but she has quietly gone around the 6,625-yard tract twice in even par 72 and her 144 total is one better than Farrah’s 36-hole total (76-69 – 145) and two ahead of first-round co-leader Jennifer Bridwell of Charleston at 2-over 146 (72-74). Day (72-75), also a first-round co-leader, and Ashlie Simmons of Texas A&M Corpus Christi (76-71) at 3-over 147.
LSU’s Shelton is in a group tied for eighth at 5-over 149.
“We feel moving the format into a shotgun start Sunday gives us all a fair chance of completing this event,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “We’ve had two of the first three events of the spring shortened by rain and we would really like to get the entire 54-holes in. Plus we have such an exciting and entertaining tournament that we would like to see it played to its conclusion. So hopefully, by doing this, we will be able to get it in before the bad storms that are predicted materialize.”
If the final round cannot be played, then the tournament would revert back to the 36-hole results.
LSU/Cleveland Golf Classic
Team Results (Par 288-576)
1. North Carolina Wilmington 305-292 – 597 +21
2. LSU 300-299 – 599 +23
3. Tulane 312-294 – 606 +30
4. Memphis 313-295 – 608 +32
4. Charleston 307-301 – 608 +32
6. Mississippi State 314-304 – 618 +42
7. Jacksonville St. 312-307 – 619 +43
8. Augusta State 309-312 -621 +45
9. Western Carolina 312-315 – 627 +51
9. Texas A&M Corpus Christi 316-311 – 627 +51
11. UAB 315-314 – 629 +53
11. Birmingham Southern 322-307 – 629 +53
13. Yale 317-320 – 637 +61
14. New Orleans 337-307 – 644 +68
Top 25 Individuals
1. Leah Hart, Augusta State, 72-72 – 144 E
2. Amelie Farrah, UNCW, 76-69 – 145 +1
3. Jennifer Bridwell, Charleston, 72-74 – 146 +2
4. Ashlie Simmons, TAMCC, 76-71 – 147 +3
4. Devon Day, LSU, 72-75 – 147 +3
6. Becky Berzonski, UNCW, 77-71 – 148 +4
6. Lindsay Hulwick, Tulane, 74-74 – 148 +4
8. Brooke Shelton, LSU, 75-74 – 149 +5
8. Lauren Smith, Augusta St., 75-74 – 149 +5
8. Abby More, Memphis, 79-70 – 149 +5
8. Carolin Landmann, Tulane, 77-72 – 149 +5
12. Shelley McGraw, Birmingham So. 76-74 – 150 +6
12. Line Cordes, W. Carolina, 75-75 – 150 +6
12. Yunuen Sanchez, UNCW, 74-76 – 150 +6
12. January Romero, Yale, 76-74 – 150 +6
16. Liliana Alvarez, Tulane, 80-71 – 151 +7
16. Danielle Reilly, Memphis, 77-74 – 151 +7
16. Natalie Booth, Miss. State, 78-73 – 151 +7
19. Angie Green, Jacksonville St., 76-76 – 152 +8
19. Vicky Meyer, LSU, 75-77 – 152 +8
19. Marilen F. Ruiz, Jacksonville St., 76-76 – 152 +8
19. Rachel Overstreet, LSU, 78-74 – 152 +8
23. Jenn Bellso, Charleston, 75-79 – 154 +10
23. Jennifer Jaszek, Memphis, 79-75 – 154 +10
23. Gretchen Zoeller, Charleston, 79-75 – 154 +10
LSU Results
T4. Devon Day 72-75 – 147 +3
T8 Brooke Shelton 75-74 – 149 +5
T19. Vicky Meyer 75-77 – 152 +8
T19. Rachel Overstreet 78-74 – 152 +8
T26. Isabel Dornellas 79-76 – 155 +11
T36. Analia Lemus 82-75 – 157 +13
T40. Erin Sarver 81-77 – 158 +14
T63. Rebecca Struthers 78-86 – 164 +20