The No. 3 LSU women’s golf team entered the weekend with hopes for a high finish against a stacked field at the Mercedes-Benz SEC/Pac-12 Challenge, but left with a bad taste in its mouth after placing 15th out of 23 teams with a 36-over par cumulative score.
The field included 15 top-25 teams and four top-5 teams, according to the Sagarin/Golfweek rankings.
Senior Jacqueline Hedwall led the scoring efforts for LSU with a 6-over par 222 total for the three-day tournament.
Hedwall’s play didn’t rank highly on the overall leader board as she finished in a tie for 34th place.
It was the first time a Lady Tiger golfer finished outside the top 20 of the individual leader board since the Liz Murphey Classic in April, when Austin Ernst finished in a tie for 25th.
The Lady Tigers faced an uphill struggle after the first round.
LSU finished the first day in 19th place, as four of the five Lady Tigers participating in the tournament struggled to scores of 76 or higher.
Ernst struggled the most on the opening day of the tournament. The defending NCAA champion tallied three double bogeys and four bogeys on her first nine holes of the first day, en route to a 10-over 82 score.
It wasn’t all bad for Ernst who rebounded to post consecutive rounds of 2-over 74 to close out the tournament.
Southeastern Conference rival Alabama won the tournament with a final team score of 1-over 865. UCLA, who won the inaugural SEC/Pac-12 Championship last season, finished four shots behind Alabama in second place.
The tournament marked the end of the fall portion of the Lady Tigers’ schedule. LSU won’t hit the links again until Feb. 12, for the Lady Puerto Rico Classic in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.
While the women were finishing up, the men were just getting their tournament started at the Isleworth Collegiate Invitational in Windermere, Fla.
The Tigers finished the first round tied with Oklahoma State, Florida and Augusta State for sixth place with a 7-over 295, and received a solid if unspectacular day from every player on the team.
Freshman Curtis Thompson and sophomore Andrew Presley each led LSU with a 1-over 73 on the day. They were followed by senior Sang Yi at 2-over 74, and sophomore Landon Lyons who rounded out the scoring with a 3-over 75.
LSU is currently four shots behind third-place Alabama, but face a steep uphill climb trying to catch first place Texas, who is 10-under par after the first day.
 
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Contact Luke Johnson at [email protected]