The No. 4 LSU women’s golf team heads to the 2021 SEC Women’s Golf Championship which begins Wednesday at the Greystone Golf and Country Club Legacy Course in Birmingham, Alabama.
All 14 teams will compete 54 holes of stroke play Wednesday through Friday. The individual champion and runner-up will be determined following the 54 holes. Also, the top eight teams will advance for match play competition on Saturday and Sunday.
The top eight teams will be placed into a bracket with the No. 1 seed playing the No. 8 seed, the No. 2 seed playing the No. 7 seed, the No. 3 seed playing the No. 6 seed and the No. 4 seed playing the No. 5 seed in match play. A total of five points will be available with one point being awarded for each individual match.
Winning teams will advance to the semifinals and then the finals. The first team to win three points within the team match will advance, or in the case of the final match be declared the Conference champion. The championship match on Sunday will be televised live on the SEC Network.
Match play lineups will be determined using the same method employed at the Presidents Cup matches.
This will be the third season that the SEC uses match play to determine the team champion. The Legacy Course will play at par 72 and 6,253 yards. LSU will tee off in the opening round at 10:05 a.m. from Hole No. 10 and is paired with South Carolina.
LSU is one of 12 SEC teams ranked in the Top 50. The others are No. 1 South Carolina, No. 6 Ole Miss, No. 9 Auburn, No. 10 Georgia, No. 16 Arkansas, No. 24 Alabama, No. 25 Florida, No. 29 Vanderbilt, No. 35 Kentucky, No. 39 Tennessee, and No. 45 Mississippi State.
As a squad, the Tigers are averaging 289.54, only the second season in school history to be under 290. Sophomore Ingrid Lindblad leads the team in stroke average at 70.63 and has the most rounds on the team of par or under at 16.
Lindblad, ranked as the No. 4 amateur player in the world, is coming off a finish to the regular season where she won the Liz Murphey Collegiate in Athens, Georgia, finished tied for third in the prestigious Augusta National Women’s Amateur and then won the LSU Tiger Golf Classic with three consecutive under par rounds.
Sophomore Latanna Stone is averaging 72.63 average and has 11 rounds of par or under this season. Freshman Carla Tejedo Mulet is at 73.92 with nine rounds of par or under. Senior Kendall Griffin (74.33) has seven rounds of par or under. Junior Alden Wallace (73.50) has three rounds of par or lower.
Since last year’s SEC championships was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, this league tourney is the first for Lindblad and Stone as well as newbie Mulet.
LSU is coming off a strong victory last week in its final regular season event at the LSU Tiger Golf Classic to boost the team’s confidence heading into the postseason. The Tigers shot 289-278- 285) to finish at 12-under par.
“The LSU Tiger Classic was a top to bottom win,” LSU coach Garrett Runion. “Everybody contributed. Carla Tejedo Mulet played great. Especially that second round, her 65, which I believe is a tournament course record. Really proud of her. She played awesome there. Kendall Griffin, going out in style. She had an under-par round in the final round after not what she would have liked in the first two rounds and she really bounced back and played a good round when she needed it.
“Latanna Stone has played great all year. Real consistent rounds by her. Just really pleased. Alden Wallace played good at home but had not really been in the lineup. She stepped up and played amazing. Everybody contributed. I think we all have a lot of confidence going into SEC’s and continue this good play.”
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