BATON ROUGE – LSU’s top-ranked amateur golfer showed her form before the Golf Channel cameras on Monday as she birdied four of the final eight holes and got up and down from off the green to stand tied for the lead after the first round of the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate at the Long Cover Club at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
Lindblad had a clean four-birdie card of 67 on the par 71, 6,369-yard course that surrendered more than its share of under par scores with little or no wind to speak up during the majority of the round. In all, 20 players shot under par.
LSU was one of the six teams that posted red team numbers in the field of 17 on the opening day. LSU finished at 1-under 283 and T5, five shots out of the lead of Arizona State at 6-under par 278. Duke and Northwestern are tied for second at 3-under par with host South Carolina fourth at 2-under 282. Texas, Auburn, Arkansas and Wake Forest all are tied for seventh at even par 284. It is five more shots back to Alabama in 11th at 5-over 289.
Lindblad, the graduate student from Sweden, played the first 10 holes in all pars before birdies on the par four 11th hole and the par three 13th hole that jump started her rounds.
Lindblad hit a great approach shot for her third on the par 5 15th and rolled in her birdie in the middle of the cup to get to three under and then pounded her drive over 285 yards on the par 4 389-yard 16th hole. She stuck her 102-yard approach close and dropped the putt to go to 4-under for the day.
Her approach on 18 rolled down an incline, leaving a delicate pitch shot back up to the green, but she was able to roll in a sizeable par putt on the final hole to keep a tie for the lead and also keep LSU in red figures for the opening day of the 54-hole event.
LSU also got a strong two-birdie even par 71 from Carla Tejedo and also counted a 1-over 72 from freshman Jordan Fischer. Fisher had two birdies in her first six holes and finished with 12 straight pars. Graduate student Latanna Stone rounded out the counting scores for LSU with a two-birdie round of 2-over 73.
“We hung in there,” said LSU Coach Garrett Runion on the Golf Channel coverage. “We knew coming in that this course can show its teeth, but it did not show its teeth today. Thankfully we were able to get a few birdies going on the back nine and jump up the leaderboard. Coming in, it looked like there would be a bit of rain and overcast. Last year, 16 out of the 18 holes played over par, so we knew par would be premium. When you get a day like this, you change your mindset and be more aggressive and know what’s out there. The greens are great, you know you can make some putts and stay patient.
LSU posted its best score of 3-under on the par 5 holes and is second in the field in total pars at 62, one behind Vanderbilt. LSU had 13 birdies overall on the day.
Of his team, Coach Runion said: “They’ve been around. We’ve been trying to count how many times they’ve been around this place and other tournaments. For Latanna (Stone) and Ingrid (Lindblad), it’s their tenth semester of college golf. They know the routine and how it goes, but we have a freshman in Jordan Fischer, who in her fourth college golf tournament, (who) played a great round on a tough course today. Aine (Donegan) played great and Carla played consistent with two birdies and two bogeys. Any time your drop score is low, you’re hard to beat.”
The Tigers will start the second round Tuesday on hole 10, beginning at 9:10 a.m. CT, playing again with Wake Forest and South Carolina. The Golf Channel will again have live coverage beginning at 1:30 p.m. CT and live scoring of the round will be available at Golfstat.com.
Darius Rucker Intercollegiate
Long Cover Club – Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Round 1 Team Results (Par 288)
1 Arizona State 278 -6
T2 Duke 281 -3
T2 Northwestern 281 -3
4 South Carolina 282 -2
T5 LSU 283 -1
T5 Mississippi State 283 -1
T7 Texas 284 E
T7 Auburn 284 E
T7 Arkansas 284 E
T7 Wake Forest 284 E
11 Alabama 289 +5
T12 Vanderbilt 290 +6
T12 Kentucky 290 +6
T12 Georgia 290 +6
15 Ohio State 295 +11
16 Oregon 296 +12
17 Baylor 298 +14
Top 5 Individuals (Par 72)
T1 Ingrid Lindblad – 67 -4
T1 Julia Lopez Ramirez – 67 -4
T3 Grace Summerhays, Arizona State – 68 -3
T3 Patience Rhodes, Arizona State – 68 -3
T3 Anna Davis, Auburn – 68 -3
T3 Maylis Lamoure, South Carolina – 68 -3
LSU Scores
T1 Ingrid Lindblad – 67 -4
T21 Carla Tejedo – 71 E
T38 Jordan Fischer – 72 +1
T51 Latanna Stone – 73 +2
T67 Aine Donegan – 75 +5