The LSU women’s golf team looks to cut mental errors as it heads into the second tournament of the spring season.
“This year’s team objective is to eliminate some of the mental mistakes that we’ve been having,” said LSU coach Karen Bahnsen. “We’ve been having big numbers, which is not characteristic of us. If we can just eliminate some of those big errors, I feel like we could have a good week.”
LSU started the season ranked No. 16 by golfstat.com, but the Lady Tigers dropped out of the top 25 after finishing 12th in 17-team field at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate Tournament with a score of (+31).
Sophomore Sydney Cavin will be looking to build off her strong showing in last week’s Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate tournament. The Baton Rouge native won the tournament with a score of five under.
The Lady Tigers (26-47-1)are set to compete against seven of the top 25 teams today in the Darius Rucker Invitational, including No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Arkansas, No. 4 Alabama and No. 5 Georgia.
Against elite competition, Bahnsen will be hoping for a strong outing from her team.
“It’s a really strong field,” Bahnsen said. “A good showing here would be really beneficial to us.”
In last season’s tournament, the Lady Tigers posted a strong showing, finishing second with a three-day total score of 6-over par.
But in 2016, LSU heads to Hilton Head, South Carolina, shorthanded without junior Caroline Nistrup, who is currently nursing a wrist injury. Nistrup has had success in the past two tournaments. Nistrup tied for first place in the individual event in 2014 and in 2015 lost in the playoff last year.
“She’s loved this golf course,” said Bahnsen “We hate not having her here, [but] the other girls have really stepped up and [are] working really hard.”
The first tee-off will be at 7:30 a.m. today.
You can reach Josh Thornton on Twitter @JoshT_TDR