Brooke Shelton, a junior and captain of the LSU women’s golf team, said she understands her role as a leader.
“Being the team captain, I feel a lot of responsibility to the team,” she said.
Shelton, who helped guide the team to a second-place tie in the Southeastern Conference Tournament said the Lady Tigers’ performance was everything but ordinary.
“It was awesome,” she said. “We outplayed some of the best teams in the SEC and finished only four shots from the first place team. We beat teams ranked in the Top 10 in the country. The team played great.”
Shelton has reason to be excited. The Lady Tigers who opened the tournament with a 299 on Friday closed the gap with a 5-over 293 on Saturday.
On Sunday, the team put together its best round in three years scoring a 1-over par 289. Like the team’s performance, Shelton started off slow and caught fire toward the end.
During the SECs, Shelton finished day one with a non-counting round of 80. After her unimpressive performance, she shot a 1-under 71 on consecutive days to help pull the Lady Tigers closer to Tournament champion Vanderbilt.
Shelton said part of the success of the Lady Tigers has to do with their close relationship off the golf course.
“We are like best friends,” she said. “The team gets along great. It’s a lot of fun.”
Shelton has proven this year that her consistent play on the course is a mainstay at LSU. After a stellar freshman campaign with two top-10 finishes and finishing the 2002-03 season with a 78.12 average, she has managed to drop her average this season by nearly two strokes to 76.50. Shelton said she couldn’t figure out what led to the improvement.
“I don’t know,” she said. “It really is not any one thing that I’m doing better. My game has improved in all areas.”
Shelton has been a part of many great moments playing for the Lady Tigers, but she said the performance by the Lady Tigers this weekend was right at the top of her list.
“I guess maybe winning our first tournament earlier in the year was one of the better moments for the team, but the Tournament this weekend was one of the best moments I have had so far,” she said.
Besides leading by example, Shelton said she offers advice to the players from time to time.
“I think the team knows that I have been there before and understand what it takes to get through the season,” she said.
Shelton has participated in three tournaments and has a low round score of 73. Her top finish this season was an 11th place tie at the Price’s Give Em 5 Intercollegiate Tournament.
When asked if there was one weakness in her game, Shelton said there are always improvements to be made.
“I would say my putting could use some improvement,” she said.
While Shelton continues to improve her game, the Lady Tigers show great promise next season, returning six of its eight players. Shelton will look to continue her average round improvement over the past two seasons while continuing her role as the team’s leader.
Shelton’s improvement might just be what the Lady Tigers need next season to earn its first SEC championship since 1992.