The LSU women’s golf team begins its foray into NCAA play today, as it is one of 27 teams competing for the NCAA Women’s West Regional title held at Stanford Golf Course in Palo Alto, Calif.
The No. 19 Lady Tigers are competing against seven other teams in the Golfweek/Sagarin Top 25 rankings, including Southeastern Conference foes No. 6 Alabama and No. 20 Vanderbilt, as well as No. 1 UCLA and No. 3 Arizona.
No. 16 Stanford will also compete in the tournament at its par-71, 6,103-yard home course. With nearly three weeks to retool their respective games, the Lady Tigers will come into the tournament well-rested after their middle-of-the-pack finish in the SEC tournament.
Junior Megan McChrystal and sophomore Tessa Teachman, both recent recipients of All-SEC nods for their performances this season, are likely to pace LSU’s scoring efforts at the regional tournament.
McChrystal became the first Lady Tiger to be on back-to-back All-SEC First Teams since former golfer Meredith Duncan in 2000, 2001 and 2002. McChrystal finished the regular season with her third career win in the Tiger-Wave classic.
The Lady Tigers finished in third place at last season’s regional tournament, largely because of McChrystal’s solid play. McChrystal fired back-to-back 3-under par 69s to close out last season’s tournament and finish in a tie for sixth place on the individual leaderboard.
While McChrystal is vying to repeat her performance, Teachman is looking to make her own history in the event after playing only two of the three rounds last season.
Teachman had to withdraw during the second round because of dehydration in the 100 degree heat at the Karsten Golf Course in Tempe, Ariz. Teachman shouldn’t have to worry about the heat this year, as the forecast for Palo Alto calls for a high of 73 degrees.
With SEC second-teamer Teachman in line to compete for all three rounds this season, the Lady Tigers round out their scoring team with junior Amalie Valle, sophomore Jacqueline Hedwall and freshman Mary Michael Maggio.
McChrystal and Teachman each averaged 73.2 strokes per round in their all-conference campaigns. But the scoring averages dropped off after that. Hedwall had the third-best average on the team with 75.4 strokes per round. She was followed by 76.2 by Valle and 76.4 by Maggio.
The Lady Tigers have had success in the regional tournament in recent seasons, making the NCAA tournament in three of the last four years and 10 times in the 30-year history of the program.
Contact Luke Johnson at [email protected]