A week after the LSU football team demolished Tennessee’s football team 38-7 in Knoxville, Tenn., the LSU women’s golf team returns to the scene for its last action of the fall semester.
The No. 3 Lady Tigers will compete in the Mercedes-Benz SEC/Pac-12 Challenge for the second consecutive year.
After playing in California last season, the tournament will be held at Holston Hill Country Club in Knoxville this weekend, beginning Friday.
The three-day event between members of the two conferences features a whopping 15 of the nation’s top 25 teams, according to the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.
The field includes 11 of the nation’s top 15 teams, and four of its top five in No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 Auburn, LSU and No. 5 Alabama.
“This tournament is a great idea matching a lot of the best golf teams that will be playing together no doubt next May in Nashville at the NCAA Championships,” said LSU coach Karen Bahnsen in a news release. “It would be great to close out the fall with a nice finish here.”
LSU placed 13th in last season’s inaugural SEC/Pac-12 Challenge, with then-freshman Austin Ernst leading the Lady Tigers with a tournament total score of 11-over par 224.
The Lady Tigers are fresh off their second team win in three tournaments this season, after capturing the Tar Heel Invitational on Oct. 9. LSU also won its first tournament of the season at the Cougar Classic in September.
With fall weather kicking in, the Lady Tigers will play in cooler temperatures for the first time this season. Temperatures are expected to be in the 60s for the tournament, which could affect the ball flight.
It’s an adjustment the team will have to get accustomed to, Bahnsen said.
“The weather will be a little different than we have played in so far this year, but we just need to concentrate on our games and play through it,” Bahnsen said.
While the women are finishing up the tournament, the men will be starting theirs.
The No. 18 Tigers travel to Windermere, Fla., for their last action of the fall in the Isleworth Invitational at Isleworth Golf Club.
It’s the second-straight season that LSU has participated in the tournament, and the Tigers enjoyed success at last year’s Isleworth Invitational.
LSU finished second in the tournament last season, led by former LSU golfer Andrew Loupe, who shot a 2-over 218 to tie for fifth place.
Neither team will return to the links for a tournament until February 2012.
 
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Contact Luke Johnson at [email protected]