The 2012 women’s golf Southeastern Conference Championship is less than a month away, but LSU coach Karen Bahnsen and the No. 4 Lady Tigers have their focus set on the PING/ASU Invitational, which tees off today in Tempe, Ariz.
The tournament marks the last of the squad’s successful 2011-12 regular season.
The Lady Tigers have notched three first-place finishes since September, and Bahnsen said she doesn’t see why they can’t add to that record this weekend.
“We’ve had a chance to win all of the last three we played in,” Bahnsen said. “We have just as great of an opportunity to win this one, too.”
The team jumped out of the gate early in the spring, capturing a victory in the Lady Puerto Rico Classic in February. The next two competitions found the Lady Tigers in fourth and second place.
Senior Tessa Teachman, who will depart from LSU this spring, said a win in Arizona would be a perfect way to cap off her last regular season in purple and gold.
The Lady Tigers will be without last year’s national champion, sophomore Austin Ernst, in this tournament, but Teachman said she has faith in the other girls to step up and fill Ernst’s role in Arizona.
“Austin is a huge factor to have, but if we just go out and play our games like we’ve been doing, we’ll be fine,” Teachman said.
Ernst was invited to compete in the LPGA’s Kraft Nabisco Championship in Rancho Mirage, Calif. She’s among four other amateurs competing in the four-round tournament, which wraps up Sunday.
Bahnsen said Ernst’s absence gives junior Katrina Hegge an opportunity to compete for LSU’s five-person squad. Hegge normally plays in each tournament as an individual, rather than adding to the total team score.
The PING/ASU Invitational features a host of tough teams on the links, including No. 1 UCLA and No. 3 USC.
Bahnsen said the strong West-Coast squads, who the Lady Tigers rarely face, will give them an edge going into the postseason.
“This field is extremely tough and will help us prepare for the SEC tournament,” Bahnsen said. “That’s why we planned it.”
Winning the SEC Championship is a goal Teachman said has been written on the door of the team’s locker room all season, and while her sights are set on Arizona for now, she can’t help but look forward in anticipation to being in Fayetteville, Ark., on April 20.
“I’m more excited than anything,” Teachman said. “We’ve been gearing up all spring, so it’ll be great to show [the SEC] what we’ve got.”
Bahnsen said she expects the Lady Tigers to use their time in Arizona to hone their skills and shake off mistakes that have hurt them in previous tournaments.
“We need to eliminate mental mistakes this week,” she said. “Emotions get the best of you sometimes, but we’ve been focusing on our game plan and how to manage those emotions.”
Hegge starts off the PING/ASU Invitational for the Lady Tiger squad today, with a tee time set for 8:40 a.m. The competition will finish Sunday afternoon.
 
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Contact Morgan Wampold at [email protected]