LSU senior Taylor Riley shot a 3-under-par 67 on April 19 during the final day of stroke play at the Southeastern Conference Women’s Golf Championship, held at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida. Riley’s performance was one of six rounds of 3-under in a field of eighty players.
The result moved Riley up twenty-seven places to finish tied for thirty-first with a total score of three-over-par 213. LSU finished thirteenth overall after posting a final round team score of six-over-par 286, bringing their total to twenty-four-over-par for the tournament.
Riley began her round with nine straight pars before recording four birdies on her final nine holes. Her last birdie came after she putted from off the green and holed out on the eighth hole. LSU Coach Garrett Runion said, “We played much better the last two rounds. We could have definitely folded after our struggles in the first round on Friday, but we showed our pride and fight over the last two rounds and came in with some numbers that we can grow on as we prepare for NCAA Regionals.” Runion added about Riley, “Taylor Riley, a senior in her last SECs, finished strong with those four birdies on the final nine holes. That was a great putt on the eighth hole from off the green.”
Statistically, Rocio Tejedo finished tied for seventh among all competitors on par five holes at three under par. Riley led LSU with nine birdies across fifty-four holes.
Runion said that after returning to Baton Rouge to focus on academics and practice sessions, LSU will wait until April 29 to learn their NCAA regional assignment. The regionals are scheduled for May 11-13 at one of several possible sites: Chapel Hill (North Carolina), Stanford (California), Tallahassee (Florida), Waco (Texas), Huntsville (Alabama), or Ann Arbor (Michigan).
Looking ahead, Runion reminded his team that it is possible to rebound strongly in postseason play: “I reminded them that two teams that didn’t make match play in the SECs in the past has a month later been in the match play finals of the NCAA Championships.”
