After a pair of top-three finishes at season-opening tournaments in Florida, both LSU golf teams hit the road this weekend against challenging competition.
For the No. 4 Lady Tigers, coming off a recent second-place finish in the Central District Invitational, it is just a short trip down I-10 to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate tournament at English Turn Golf Course.
The Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate, a 54-hole, three-day tournament, features one of the strongest fields in NCAA women’s golf this season, as 11 of the nation’s top 20 teams and 23 of the top 50 individual players will tee it up at the former PGA tour stop.
LSU women’s coach Karen Bahnsen said the difficult competition is nothing new for her team.
“If you look at our schedule, these are the teams we have competed against throughout the fall,” Bahnsen said. “We play against the best all year long, so there’s no intimidation at all for us.”
Freshman Austin Ernst, on the heels of her individual title at the Central District Invitational, is again expected to lead the Lady Tigers, along with senior All-American Megan McChrystal.
“The win just gives [Ernst] more confidence, if anything,” Bahnsen said. “She’s excited to build on that and get back on the course again.”
Bahnsen said she expects the often blustery conditions at English Turn to be a factor in the tournament, but she is confident the team’s experience on the course will prove beneficial.
“We co-hosted our tournament [at English Turn] with Tulane last year, so it’s a golf course we’re familiar with, and we feel like that’s a home course advantage,” Bahnsen said.
For the men’s squad, another trip to Florida, this time for the John Hayt Invitational at the demanding Sawgrass Country Club, awaits.
The No. 10 Tigers last played in the Sunshine State nearly two weeks ago in the Gator Invitational, where they finished third with a 54-hole team score of 22-over par and placed four players in the top 30 individually.
Despite Sawgrass Country Club’s notoriously undulating greens, the Tigers have a history of recent success on the course.
In 2009, LSU claimed the team title at the John Hayt Invitational and followed up with an impressive runner-up finish last season.
The Tigers figure to capitalize on that experience, as the team is led by a trio of seniors. Andrew Loupe, Ken Looper and John Peterson, who was recently added to the 2011 Ben Hogan Award watch list, all rank in the top 60 in the latest Golfweek men’s individual rankings.
 
 
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Contact Chris Abshire at [email protected]