Cats Battle Windy Conditions in 36-Hole Marathon at LSU Classic

BATON ROUGE, La. – With thunderstorms in the forecast for Saturday’s previously scheduled second round at the LSU Tiger Golf Classic, officials decided Thursday to move the second round up to Friday and get ahead of the storm.

The only problem with that was the wind blowing the storm in arrived Friday in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, creating gusty conditions for the Kentucky women’s golf team for the first and second rounds of the tournament.

After a 36-hole marathon that began as early as 8 a.m. local time, the Wildcats are in 13th place at 40-over par with 18 holes left in the tournament. UK shot an opening-round 305 (17-over par) in the morning and a 311 (23-over par). The windy conditions certainly played a factor.

The 15-team field will take the day off Saturday with thunderstorms on the way and conclude the tournament Sunday from the University Club at 9:30 a.m. ET. Live scoring will continue to be available at Golfstat.com.

Duke, the defending tournament champion and the 11th-ranked team in the country, has put itself in prime position to repeat as champion. The Blue Devils, paced by the nation’s No. 2 player and current individual leader, Leona Maguire (9-under par), are in first place with a 13-shot lead over Arkansas at 5-under par.

After tying for 39th last week – the first time she’s finished outside the top 20 this season – junior Isabelle Johansson returned to form Friday with a 1-over-par 73 in the first round and a 2-over-par 74 in the second. 

Johansson totaled eight birdies on the day, including five in the second round that helped her combat a pair of early double bogeys. All told, she’s at 3-over par and in a tie for 14th place heading into Sunday’s conclusion. 

Sophomore Grace Rose, perhaps the most consistent golfer of the spring for UK, is at 7-over par through 36 holes with a round of 75 in the morning and a 76 in the afternoon. Rose currently stands in a tie for 29th place and still has yet to record a round worse than 76 in 10 spring rounds so far.

Fellow Sophomore Claire Carlin is in a tie for 70th place at 15-over par.

Freshman Josephine Chang, the reigning Southeastern Conference Women’s Freshman Golfer of the Week, was unable to build on the momentum from a career-best tournament last weekend and is at 17-over par, tied for 76th.

Freshman Sarah Shipley is in a tie for 80th at 18-over par.

This week’s 15-team field includes eight ranked in Golfstat’s top 50 and two in the top 20. Kentucky comes into the tournament ranked No. 50 in Golfstat’s rankings – decent position as the Wildcats try to make an NCAA regional appearance for the sixth time in seven seasons under Borst.

This weekend’s tournament is being held at LSU’s University Club and is always one of the gems of the spring schedule. Playing at 6,250 yards and a par 72, the course was completely redesigned and renovated in 2010 under the guidance of PGA Tour pro David Toms and renowned golf course architect Jim Lipe, the course is carved into nearly 300 acres of land.

The challenging layout features wide fairways bordered by pine hammocks and native grasses, in addition to 2,000 feet of beautiful bulkhead.