The LSU women’s golf team is in eighth place after the second of three rounds at the fall season-closing Alamo Invitational.
The Lady Tigers shot rounds of 3-over and 9-over on the par-72 Briggs Ranch Golf Course in San Antonio, Texas.
“We have played good,” said LSU coach Karen Bahnsen. “We didn’t finish up today the way we wanted to, but I feel like we are closer than the score would indicate.”
Bahnsen said her theme for the team all season has been constant improvement. The Lady Tigers finished third at the NCAA Championships last May, but most of that team is gone this season.
Seniors Tessa Teachman and Jacqueline Hedwall both graduated and former NCAA champion Austin Ernst left the program after her sophomore season.
“We lost a lot of our team,” Bahnsen said. “Three of our five starters aren’t here anymore, so we came into this season with a really young group of girls.”
With all the roster turnover, the Lady Tigers started the season slowly, finishing 18th out of 24 at the Cougar Classic.
Since then, they have improved their placement each week, finishing 14th out of 18 at the NCAA Preview and then eighth out of 18 at the Tar Heel Invitational on Oct. 14.
“The goal all season has been to keep improving,” Bahnsen said. “I said we need to take it week-to-week and just keep getting better. We aren’t where we want to be yet, but we are going in the right direction.”
This week, the team’s two returning starters — junior Lindsay Gahm and sophomore Madelene Sagstrom — are tied for the team lead at 1-over, good for a tie for 20th overall.
“Both of them have really stepped up into leadership roles for us this season,” Bahnsen said. “They have matured as golfers and truly became the leaders of this team. That has really helped us improve.”
Bahnsen said the team’s improvement has a lot to do with the development of the younger golfers. Freshman Nadine Dreher shot 1-under in the first round and is at 4-over for the tournament.
The other LSU golfers in the tournament are junior Ali Lucas, who is 8-over and freshman Elise Bradley, who is 9-over.
“The younger girls didn’t play as well today,” Bahnsen said. “That being said, their scores weren’t too bad, which shows they are maturing and are better than they were earlier this season.”
No. 9 Oklahoma leads the tournament at 13-under as a team. Texas A&M senior Sarah Beth Davis leads the tournament at 7-under, two strokes ahead of three others.
The tournament’s final round tees off today at 8:30 a.m.
