Tiger Golf Team Off To Strong Start In SEC Women's Golf Championship

BELLEAIR, Florida – The LSU women’s golf team put together a consistent, solid opening round on the first day Monday of the Southeastern Conference Women’s Golf Championship at the Pelican Golf Club.

On a cloudless, sunny day with little wind, the Tigers put themselves in a great position, posting a 5-under par round of 275 on the par 70 layout to stand in second place entering Tuesday’s second round.

The Tigers are looking to be one of the eight schools after 54 holes of stroke play concludes on Wednesday to advance to the match play quarterfinals on Thursday.

South Carolina had the best round of the day at 14-under par 266 with LSU in second. Auburn is third at 4-under 276 with Ole Miss and Texas rounding out the top five at 1-under 279. Tennessee and Mississippi State both at 3-over 283 are the cutoff number to match play on the first day.

The Tigers played in the first wave off the 10th tee on Monday and despite a little trouble on the tricky par 4 18th hole over water to a width-wise small green, LSU turned to the front nine at even par. The team got off to a great start with three counting birdies on the first hole and continued to add birdies including two counting on the par 5 seventh hole and two on the par 3 ninth hole.

Rocio Tejedo, the freshman from Spain, put herself right in the thick of the individual competition after day one with a 4-under 66 which featured six birdies, five in the last 12 holes of play, including the tricky 18th and a clean card of two birdies on the closing front nine.

She is tied for fourth on the 6,254-yard layout, one shot back of a three-way tie for first at 5-under 65 with Anna Davis of Auburn and Eila Galitsky and Hannah Darling (both of South Carolina).

LSU also counted a 2-under 68 from junior Taylor Riley which concluded with birdies on the par 5 seventh hole, the par 4 eight and the par 3 ninth. In all Riley had seven birdies and stands is a group tied for ninth in the individual standings.

LSU’s other starting freshman Josefin Widal posted an even par 70 and Elsa Svensson posted a 1-over 71. Widal had four birdies and Svensson five in their respective rounds.

Senior Aine Donegan had a 2-over 72, closing with three birdies in the last six holes.

“It’s the cliché that you can’t win it on the first day,” said Coach Garrett Runion of the start in his sixth SEC championship head coaching appearance. “We know it’s going to be competitive, so we have to keep going. But I was really proud of our two freshmen in their first SEC Championship. Rocio (Tejedo) comes out with a 4-under 66 which is pretty strong. Then I was proud of Josefin, who birdied the last hole to shoot even par. So when you get 4-under between your two freshmen and their first SEC Championship, that lets you know that they came out looking to win, not just happy to be here.

“And then, Taylor Riley, a little bit of one of our elders as a junior, birdies in her last three holes,” he said. “Shoots 2-under which was pretty strong with seven birdies. We had 26 birdies as a five-man team today, leading the field, that’s got to be one of our higher days. Lets you know we had the offense going. I was really proud of Elsa (Svensson), who had a couple of miscues and shot 1-under on the final nine.”

On a day when the scoring average for the 80 rounds was just over 72, the Tigers and their 26 birdies were five more than anyone else in the field. LSU tied for the lead on the first day in par 4 scoring (with South Carolina at 3-under) and par 5 scoring (with Mississippi State at 5-under).

Riley’s birdie on eight was one of just four on the day on that par 4, 425-yard hole that played to a 4.45 average, just ahead of the second and 18th holes at 4.40.

Riley and Tejedo both played the two par 5s on the course with birdies to tie with a large group on the first day 2-under. Riley was one of three golfers to lead the field with seven birdies on the card.

It’s a really good course. It was a good scoring day,” said Runion. “It rewards good shots. If you are off just a little bit, it can penalize you around the greens. We had a couple of those on our first nine holes (10-18), but they responded when they all turned to the final nine holes. We know it is always going to come down to one (shot) trying to make the eight. We’re not trying to just get in the eight. We’re trying to finish as high up as we can in stroke play. The fact that our worst score was 2-over shows you that we have a very consistent team. You’ve heard me say a million times, it is hard to beat consistency. A very solid day and I’m very, very pleased with our start.”

The Tigers will again have what should be good starting time on Tuesday, this time off Hole 1 with South Carolina and Auburn at 8 a.m. ET (7 a.m. Baton Rouge time). It should be in the mid-60s to start the round and sunny with winds from the WNW in the afternoon. Live scoring can be found at Golfstat.com at the SEC Women’s Stroke Play tab.

SEC Women’s Golf Championship
Belleair, Florida – Pelican Golf Club
First Round Team Results – Par 280
(NCAA Rankings Are From Scoreboard by Clippd Top 25)
1 No. 4 South Carolina – 266 -14
2 No. 11 LSU – 275 -5
3 No. 14 Auburn – 276 -4
T4 No. 18 Ole Miss – 279 -1
T4 No. 6 Texas – 279 -1
6 No. 24Florida –282 — +2
T7 Tennessee – 283 +3
T7 No. 20 Mississippi State – 283 +3
9 No. 6 Texas A&M – 284 +4
T10 Kentucky – 286 +6
T10 Alabama – 286 +6
T12 No. 2 Arkansas – 288 +8
T12 No. 21 Vanderbilt – 288 +8
T12 Oklahoma – 288 +8
T12 Missouri – 288 +8
16 Georgia – 306 +26

Individual Top 5 (Par 70)
T1 Hannah Darling, South Carolina – 65 -5
T1 Eila Galitsky, South Carolina – 65 -5
T1 Anna Davis, Auburn – 65 -5
T4 Carys Worby, Auburn – 66 -4
T4 Rocio Tejedo, LSU – 66 -4

LSU Scoring
T4 Rocio Tejedo – 66 -4
T9 Taylor Riley – 68 -2
T20 Josefin Widal – 70 E
T30 Elsa Svensson – 71 +1
T38 Aine Donegan – 72 +2