Kentucky Women’s Golf Takes Momentum into LSU Tiger Classic

BATON ROUGE, La. – Coming off a strong final-round performance at the Clover Cup last weekend, the Kentucky women’s golf team is already back in action this weekend at the LSU Tiger Golf Classic.

Just five days removed from competing in Mesa, Arizona, the Wildcats will embark on the second of a three-tournament stretch over a four-week period. This one has some familiarity to it.

For one, it’s the seventh straight season Kentucky has played in the tournament. Also, head coach Golda Johansson Borst served as an assistant at LSU – host of this week’s tournament – from 2007 to 2010.

“I think it’s good that we have a quick turnaround between tournaments,” Borst said. “The team is already in a tournament mindset and we can continue to build on the positive momentum from this past weekend.

“This is one of our favorite events that we travel to and we always enjoy coming back. The course sets up well for our team, and I think it really benefited us to putt on Longbow’s greens last week to help prepare for this weekend.” 

Because of forecasted rain on Saturday, the tournament will consist of 36 holes on Friday, an off day on Saturday and the final 18 holes on Sunday. The two-round marathon on Friday will begin at 9 a.m. ET with a shotgun start. Live scoring will be available throughout the week at Golfstat.com.

Fifteen teams make up this week’s field with eight ranked in Golfstat’s top 50 and two in the top 20. Defending champion Duke, ranked No. 11 this week, is back in the field. The Blue Devils feature the No. 2 player in the country, according to Golfstat, in Leona Maguire.

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.

UK is coming off a fifth-place showing at the Clover Cup after an impressive final-day push under adverse circumstances. 

With temperatures in the upper 90s and down to just four golfers because of a disqualification – which meant no margin of error for the Wildcats’ four eligible golfers for score purposes – UK stormed back from 10th place on the final day to shoot 1-under par and finish at 20-over par for the tournament. 

It marked the fifth top-five finish for the Wildcats in stroke-play tournaments.

With the type of fight the five from last weekend showed, and with several of the underclassmen finding their footing, Borst elected to go with the same lineup as last weekend with juniors Isaballe Johansson and Grace Rose, freshmen Josephine Chang and Sarah Shipley, and sophomore Claire Carlin.

Johansson has been Kentucky’s top golfer all season long. She leads the Wildcats in stroke average (72.8), top-20 finishes (five), top-three finishes (three), and even- or under-par rounds (nine), plus she tied the school record in early February with a 64 at the UCF Challenge.

Last week, for the first time this season, Johansson failed to finish in the top 20 at a tournament and didn’t record a round of even par or better. The silver lining of Johansson’s uncharacteristic showing is UK still managed to make a strong team push thanks to its added depth.

Most notably was the effort from Chang, a freshman. The Rancho Cucamonga, California, native shot back-to-back rounds of even-par 72 in the second and third rounds to tie for 16th place at 3-over par. Both the 54-hole score and place were career bests.

Chang’s performance earned her SEC Women’s Freshman Golfer of the Week honors, UK’s first since March 2014.

Rose was as consistent as ever last week, firing consecutive rounds of 75, 74 and 73. In eight rounds this spring, she’s shot no worse than a 75.

Perhaps the most encouraging sign in Arizona came from Carlin. Making just her fourth career appearance and second of the season, Carlin showed drastic signs of improvement. After an opening-round 85, Carlin stormed back with a career-best 75, and then shattered her low mark again with a 3-under 69 in the final round.

Shipley was playing well at the Clover Cup and opened the tournament with back-to-back 75s, but she was disqualified in the final round because of a rules infraction.

Kentucky finished in 10th place a season ago at the LSU Tiger Golf Classic. The Wildcats’ best showing was in 2014, when UK finished in third. 

The University Club is always one of the gems of the spring schedule. 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.

This week’s tournament will play as 6,250 yards and par 72.