LSU women’s golf team — the No. 13 ranked team by Golfweek — finished 11th in Oklahoma at the Schooner Fall Classic.
The Schooner Fall Classic was hosted by the University of Oklahoma from Saturday to Monday in Norman, Oklahoma, on the Belmar Golf Club’s 6001-yard, par-70 golf course.
The Lady Tigers were led by junior Elise Bradley, who fininshed tied for 13th place with a 1-under-par weekend score of 209 (70-70-69) through 54 holes.
All-Southeastern Conference sophomore Caroline Nistrup put up the second-best performance for the Lady Tigers, as she tied for the 24th spot on the leaderboard with her three-round score of 212 (69-75-68).
Last year’s champion at the Schooner Fall Classic and All-SEC senior Madelene Sagstrom failed to defend her title, finishing just behind her teammate Nistrup with a final score of 213 (68-70-75) ending the tournament tied for the 30th position.
Rounding out the field for the Lady Tigers were sophomore Carly Ray Goldstein and freshman Sydney Cavin. Goldstein put together a weekend score of 222 (76-73-73) to finish in a tie for the 70th place. Cavin, playing in her first college event, finished in 90th place with a total of 249 (84-79-86).
The Lady Tigers will be in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, from Oct. 10 to Oct. 12 to compete in the Tar Heel Invitational at the UNC Finley Golf Club.
While the women’s team struggled on the road, the men’s team experienced success playing on a familiar course.
The No. 4 LSU men’s golf team won their second straight event after taking the top spot in the Tigers’ annual David Toms Intercollegiate, held on Saturday and Sunday at the University Club in Baton Rouge.
LSU All-American senior Ben Taylor took medalist honors on the LSU home course. He was the only player in the field of 69 to finish all 54 holes under par.
“It’s unbelievable,” Taylor said in a news release. “I’ve come so far since I’ve transferred [to LSU].”
Taylor sat on top of the leaderboard at the end of the first day’s first two rounds, and through 36 holes was the lone golfer under par with rounds of 74 (+2) and 69 (-3) on the 7663-yard, par-72 layout.
Taylor was accompanied at the top of the leaderboard by teammate and junior Zach Wright entering the final round.
Taylor put up a final round score of 71 (-1) to fend off the strong play of Emmanuel Kountakis of Mercer University, who put up a final round 66 (-6) to jump up 10 spots in the standings and finish in second place.
Taylor’s final score of 214 (74-69-71) gave the Tiger from England his first NCAA win.
“I’m fortunate to have [Head Coach Chuck Winstead and Assistant Coach Garrett Runion] as coaches and to win the home event as my first [win]. I couldn’t be more thrilled with the result.”
Wright carded a final round 80 (+8) to sink 11 spots on the leaderboard into a tie for 13th place. Wright’s troubles started early on Sunday with three double-bogeys and a bogey on the first nine of his final round.
Wright started the back nine with a birdie on hole No. 10, but failed to card another and finished his round with bogeys on the 17th and 18th holes to card a weekend score of 226 (73-73-80).
The next finisher for the Tigers was senior Myles Lewis, who played as the team’s fifth golfer, taking the position from freshman Blake Caldwell. Lewis finished tied for 25th place putting together a 54-hole score of 229 (75-80-74).
All-American senior Stewart Jolly, the fifth-ranked college golfer by Golfweek, finished outside of the top 25. Jolly finished tied for 30th after winning his last tournament at the Golfweek Conference Challenge in Burlington, Iowa.
Jolly scored just five birdies during the course of the two day event, and dropped shots for bogey or worse 18 times including a triple-bogey on the par-4 ninth hole for a total score of 231 (81-76-74).
Sophomore Eric Ricard rounded out play for the Tigers with a score of 232 (80-76-76), finishing tied for 33rd place.
The LSU men’s golf team has taken home trophies from two of the three events that they have entered, and two different Tigers have finished as the top golfer of those two events. The Tigers look to continue their strong play at the United States Collegiate Championship in Alpharetta, Georgia, from Oct. 17 to Oct. 19.