Members of the LSU women’s golf team have been busy this post-season receiving All-America and All-Louisiana accolades, winning state amateur titles and qualifying for national amateur tournaments.
The players are using amateur tournaments as a way to work on their games in the summer, and four Lady Tiger golfers in particular are making their mark on the summer off season.
Senior Madelene Sagstrom received an All-America honorable mention from Golfweek Magazine and a spot on the Louisiana Sports Writers Association All-Louisiana team after a season that included her first win as a collegiate golfer and a runner-up finish — after a three-way playoff.
In her junior season, Sagstrom took her first collegiate victory at the Schooner Fall Classic in Norman, Okla., in early October. At the LSU Tiger Golf Classic held at Baton Rouge’s University Club, Sagstrom fell short of a second win by one stroke in a three-way playoff to Arkansas’ Gabby Lopez.
This summer, Sagstrom represented her home country of Sweden in the Ladies’ British Open Amateur Championship in June at The Royal St. George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Advancing to the match-play stage after placing in the top 64 after two rounds of stroke play, Sagstrom was knocked out in the first round by Ireland’s Olivia Mehaffey.
Caroline Nistrup joined her teammate on the LSWA All-Louisiana team and won LSWA’s Freshman of the Year honor.
Last season, Nistrup ranked seventh in the Southeastern Conference in stroke average with 72.92 strokes per round. Shooting at or below par a dozen times, she was also able to earn a place on the All-SEC first team and the All-SEC freshman team.
Nistrup’s best finish was a runner-up spot at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate in Hilton Head, S.C. The tournament ended in a playoff hole where Nistrup fell to the No. 2-ranked Yu Liu of Duke.
Elise Bradley, a junior from Mandeville, won her second state title at the Louisiana Women’s Golf Association State Amateur Championship at OakWing Golf Club in Alexandria.
Bradley defeated tournament medalist Kay Daniel of Covington. Bradley’s first LWGA amateur win was in 2010 as a high school student.
Sophomore Carly Ray Goldstein won a sectional qualifier for the USGA Women’s Amateur Championship. The qualifier was held in Lexington, N.C. at the Sapona Ridge Country Club where Goldstein topped the field of 103 golfers.
The win earns Goldstein a place at the biggest women’s amateur tournament in the country held at the Nassau Country Club in Glen Cove, N.Y., Aug. 4 through Aug. 10.
Before the women’s amateur in New York, Goldstein will participate in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship — a tournament reserved for golfers who do not retain membership rights at any private clubs. The tournament will be held at The Home Course in Dupont, Wash., July 14 through July 19.
In September the LSU women’s golf team will kick off its 2014-15 season this at the Mason Rudolph Championship in Franklin, Tenn.