Lowe: Before Tigers Tee Off, A Few Notes, Quotes And Thoughts On This Year's NCAA Women's Golf Championship

CARLSBAD, California – Well, it just wouldn’t be the NCAA Women’s Golf Championships without a championship edition of “Geaux Lowe.”

Notes, quotes and thoughts on this event which is underway as you drink your morning beverage of choice. LSU will tee off at 1:07 p.m. PDT here at OMNI La Costa Resort & Spa (3:07 p.m. Baton Rouge time).

The top 15-seeds in the tournament have the late-early wave over the first two rounds and as long as LSU stays in the top 15, they will play early on Sunday. It’s the preferred waves that LSU Coach Garrett Runion and other coaches want as this championship gets under way.

“We earned that tee time based off out national ranking,” said LSU Coach Garrett Runion. “It’s always nice to kind of go off a little bit later the first day, see how the scores are, and then turn around and come right back out (Saturday). Typically in the morning, there’s less wind, the course is a little softer, and then hopefully you can post two good rounds and then get a good longer rest before you head into the third round and that first cut of 15.”

For those of you watching live scoring it can be a bit of a roller coater the first two days as you watch teams starting jumping all over the place in the standings with teams who have nearly finished the first round. It will take a couple hours into the round once the afternoon wave starts for things to settle in and you can get a feel for how the day will be.

So, be patient.

LA COSTA GOLF’S OMAHA?
After just one of an expected three years as host last year at the newly redesigned OMNI La Costa Spa & Resort North Course, the NCAA extended the run of the tournament at the venue through 2028. The feeling is that this resort and course can be the neutral site championship much like Omaha is the neutral site venue of the College World Series.

“We want (La Costa) to be Omaha for golf,” said John Fields, the President of College World Golf Championships Foundation and the Head Men’s Golf Coach for the tournament’s college host, the University of Texas. “Meaning you have the College World Series in Omaha since 1949. We’re hoping the North Course here will be the permanent site for the Division I National Championships on a normal basis.”

It will be interesting to see how the course plays in its second championships and how the scores set up for the 30 teams in the event and the men’s championship the next week. The venue is one that allows all the teams to stay on site with plenty of food and beverage options for teams and spectators.

I am most curious to see how the greens play this year, after the brand new greens in 2024 were not very receptive. The par 4 15th that drops off to water on three sides appears to still be very “bouncy” from mid green on, but others do seem to play a little more receptive.

How the venue now with two extra years makes the event so that the best amateur golfers in the world can shine is what’s important. The course was the star last year. It will shine again this year, but as players come multiple times to La Costa how they are treated, how they are honored and how this event makes teams feel special like in Omaha will go a long way to determining this event’s future here.

DONEGAN JOINS ELITE GROUP
For senior Aine Donegan, the memories of La Costa as she returns have to be good. There was a 5-under 67 round that propelled her to a T4 finish and the all-championship team. Now she tees it up for a final time as a collegian before she heads back home to Ireland to plan her future with a degree in hand.

This is her third appearance at the NCAA Championships and that puts her in elite company as far as the names of LSU golf who have made at least three trips to the Championships:

4 – Ingrid Lindblad, Latanna Stone, Carla Tejedo, Katy Harris, Meredith Duncan, Megan McChrystal
3 – Aine Donegan, Kristi Coats, Caroline Marten, Amalie Valle, Tessa Teachman, Jacqueline Hedwall

I could make up a couple pretty good golf teams with that group.

PICK A TEE BOX, ANY TEE BOX
Well, it might seem that way and it might seem that was part of the reason the Thursday practice round for LSU lasted just over six hours as some holes had two tee boxes marked that players hit opening shots on each.

The main course layout is at 6,330 yards with a par of 72 but there are 10 holes listed in the participants manual with alternate hole distances.

For example: the 11th like last year can be played at under 300 yards to make it a potential risk-reward drivable par 4. Then there is the 12th hole which is listed at a par 3 190, but there are tee boxes where it could be played at 160 and yes, 95 yards. The par 5 18th hole into a very narrow green can be played as long as 497 or as short as 410 which will bring water off the tee and the chances for eagle attempts into play.

LSU’s ability to play the par 5s was important in that final round in Columbus, Ohio in the NCAA Regional. It is what helped guarantee their spot in this year’s regional.

I do think this will bring a lot of decision making and thought into what players want to do and coaches want them to attempt to pull off on several of these holes. It makes a course that is challenging, that much more of an adventure.

Once again, a reminder. The first cut is after 54 holes on Sunday. The top 15 teams and nine individuals not on those 15 teams will play on Monday in the final round of stroke play. That will determine the eight teams for match play and an individual national champion.

So here we go for another championship golf event. It is very exciting to see this group of Tigers stepping on that tee box in several hours for a fifth straight year. Temperatures will be in the mid-60s with winds at 10 mph out of the West Southwest.

We’ll be on the course keeping you updated on the round on my “X” site @LSUKent. Also updates @LSUwomensgolf. As always, thanks for “Geauxing Lowe” with me at the Championships.