Karen Bahnsen is a tough woman to please.
Bahnsen, who enters her 26th season as the LSU women’s golf coach, could only muster up one word to describe last season’s finish — disappointing.
LSU finished No. 7 in the final Golfstat rankings and placed 12th in the NCAA Championships, but Bahnsen thought her team’s ceiling was not met.
The Lady Tigers’ chance to redeem themselves starts this weekend as they open their season Sunday at 7 a.m. when they travel to Daytona Beach, Fla., to compete in the Hooters Collegiate Match Play Championship.
“This is the earliest we’ve ever played in a season, but we’re excited about it,” said Bahnsen, who led the 2008 Lady Tigers to their best postseason finish since 2001.
The tournament consists of a 36-hole stroke play to determine seeding. The top eight teams then advance to the championship round of match play, while the bottom eight teams compete in a consolation round.
Match play involves a whole different strategy. Rather than counting up strokes over an 18-hole round, a team earns points for each individual hole one of its players wins.
“It’s a different kind of format, but it’s a fun way to start the season,” Bahnsen said.
The Match Play Championship has quickly become one of highest-profile events in the country, bringing 16 of the top women’s programs together for a three-day tournament. While six of the top 10 teams in the country will be in attendance, including LSU, the top three are no-shows.
No. 1 Arizona State, No. 2 UCLA and No. 3 USC all declined invitations.
“Some of the West Coast schools didn’t make it, which was kind of disappointing, but it’s still a really strong field,” Bahnsen said.
The Lady Tigers return one of the nation’s best golfers in junior Megan McChrystal, who finished the 2008 season ranked No. 27 in the country.
The Stuart, Fla., native said she fine-tuned her swing in the offseason and expects the team to continue where it left off in 2008.
“We were definitely disappointed with our 12th finish at nationals, but I definitely see us being a top-five team this year,” she said.
Though Bahnsen doesn’t have any seniors on the team, she expects McChrystal to inherit a senior leadership role.
“With golf, as you mature and get older, it helps you,” Bahnsen said. “I expect her to have a great year.”
Bahnsen said she saw tremendous improvements from the entire team during offseason workouts and tournaments but said junior Abby Oberthier has been the most improved.
Oberthier, who saw limited action in her first two seasons at LSU, won her first Collegiate Players Tour title in June after taking the top spot in the CPT BlackHorse Collegiate Open in Cypress, Texas.
Along with McChrystal, juniors Amalie Valle and Lindy LaBauve, sophomore Jacqueline Hedwall and freshman Mary Michael Maggio round out the list of competitors for LSU this weekend.
Duke remains the front-runner to win the title this weekend despite the stiff competition. The Lady Blue Devils have captured the title five times in the last six years, with Purdue winning in 2005.—-Contact Sean Isabella at [email protected]