The No. 19 LSU women’s golf team finished in a tie for No. 13 of 17 teams this past weekend at the Lady Tar Heel Invitational in Chapel Hill, N.C.
The tournament got off to a rocky start with a two and a half hour rain and lightning delay Friday morning. The bad weather conditions contributed to no team posting an opening round under 300 on the par-72 course.
The University of Vanderbilt finished the first day of the tournament in the lead after shooting 13 over par in the 54-hole tournament. The Lady Tigers were hurt by six double bogeys and a quadruple bogey in the opening round, shooting 31 over par, which was good enough for No. 16 after day one.
The weekend proved to be a little better for LSU, as the team posted rounds of 310 Saturday and 301 Sunday to move up the leader board and into its No. 13 finish.
LSU coach Karen Bahnsen said the weather and its effect on the golf course were the main factors in such poor scores being shot not only by the Lady Tigers but by other teams throughout the tournament.
“We played in some pretty bad conditions,” Bahnsen said. “It was really rainy and wet and cold. I’ve got one or two girls that aren’t the longest hitters, so it was just really a lot of golf course for couple of the girls.”
Finley Golf Course, where the Lady Tar Hill Invitational was held, has a 6,285-yard layout, but Bahnsen said the bad weather conditions made the course seem longer.
“After it was rainy and wet and nasty weather, [the course] played more like 6,800 [yards], which is really long for women’s golf,” she said. “The weather made the course play very long and difficult.
Last month, after the Mason Rudolph Women’s Championship, in which the Lady Tigers placed No. 11 of 15 teams, Bahnsen said the team needed to eliminate hits into hazard areas and fix putting problems.
She said she saw some improvement in those areas this past weekend, but work still needs to be done.
“That’s a work in progress,” Bahnsen said. “Those things don’t happen over night.”
Vanderbilt came out on top in the Lady Tar Heel Invitational, finishing the three-day event 29 over par. The University of Virginia finished second at 34 over par. Duke University, the University of North Carolina and the University of Tennessee rounded out the top five.
Individually for the Lady Tigers, junior Kim Meck showed consistency throughout the weekend by posting three rounds of 76 to finish tied for No. 26 at 12 over par.
Junior Rebecca Kuhn concluded the tournament tied for No. 37 at 16 over par. Seniors Melissa Eaton and Nicola Eaton and junior Alexis Rather finished tied for Nos. 45, 70 and 72, respectively.
LSU’s next tournament will be the three-day Auburn Derby Classic in Auburn, Ala., on Oct. 27.
—–Contact Tyler Batiste at [email protected]