LSU’s men’s and women’s golf teams look to bounce back this weekend after poor team finishes in their last tournaments.
The No. 30 Lady Tigers travel to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, today for the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational to battle against a championship-caliber field. Thirteen of the 18 teams in the event are ranked in Golfweek’s top 50, including defending-event champion Duke University.
The 18-team field returns 14 teams from last year’s installment of the invitational, including a strong Southeastern Conference presence. In addition to LSU, the University of Alabama, Auburn University, the University of Arkansas, University of Tennessee and University of Kentucky are the SEC teams in the field.
Baylor University, North Carolina State University, Wake Forest University, University of Virginia, Rollins University, University of North Carolina Wilmington, University of Oregon, University of Louisville and Michigan State University round out the remainder of the teams.
The Lady Tigers’ lineup will feature seniors Nadine Dreher and Elise Bradley, junior Caroline Nistrup and sophomore Claudia De Antonio. Freshman Kathleen Gallagher and sophomore Sydney Cavin will also participate in the individual competition. Both De Antonio and Cavin are making their first appearances of their sophomore seasons.
Dreher leads the Lady Tigers with a stroke average of 72.83 after two events. She and the rest of the women’s team are looking to turn the year around after finishing 11th at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate.
The LSU men’s team will be at home for the only time this season when it tees off the David Toms Intercollegiate, held at the University Club golf course at 8:30 a.m. Saturday.
The 14-team field features three teams ranked in Golfweek’s top-40 rankings — LSU, University of Iowa and Liberty University.
The Tigers and Iowa both participated in the Golfweek Conference Challenge last week. LSU finished ninth overall, while the Hawkeyes won the challenge.
The Tigers dropped drastically in the rankings since the season began. After being ranked No. 2 in the Bushnell Golfweek Division I Coaches’ Preseason Poll, LSU slipped to No. 8 in the Golfweek rankings prior to the GCC and dropped to No. 40 in this week’s ranking.
As of Thursday, LSU’s lineup has yet to be announced, but senior Zach Wright, junior Eric Ricard and freshman Sam Burns have been in both lineups so far this year and are likely to be selected again.
The largest consequence may come in the form of junior Brandon Pierce, who was sidelined because of a neck injury he suffered over the summer. He said hopes to see his first action of 2015.
The Covington, Louisiana, native finished last season the highest-ranked LSU golfer and was named a Golfweek Third-Team All-American last season.
Sophomore Blake Caldwell, junior Rhyne Jones, freshman Nathan Jeansonne and freshman Luis Gagne are the other golfers available to be selected to round out LSU’s five-man lineup.