BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s golf team is ranked 23rd in the latest edition of the Golf World Men’s College Coaches Top 25 Poll, it was announced by this weekend.
The Tigers are ranked in the nation’s top 25 by any major poll for the first time since May 2001 when LSU was ranked 29th heading into the 2001 NCAA East Regional. LSU is currently ranked 50th in Golfweek’s collegiate golf rankings.
LSU ended the fall portion of their season not ranked in the top 50 in either set of rankings, but thanks to a victory at the Gator Invitational two weeks ago, the Tigers soared into the top 25.
“It is not at all out of the question to expect to be in the top 25 ever year here (at LSU),” said head coach Greg Jones. “We have great facilities, a strong tradition, and a great commitment from our coaches and players to be a consistent program.”
Georgia Tech is No. 1 in the Golf World Poll, Oklahoma State is second, Wake Forest is third, followed by Florida in fourth and Clemson in fifth. Florida, the 2001 NCAA Champions, finished one stroke behind LSU in their home tournament, the Gator Invitational two weeks ago at Gainesville. It is only the eighth time in 25 years that the Gators have not won the tournament. Texas, TCU, Fresno State, Virginia Tech and Southern Cal round out the top 10.
Six Southeastern Conference teams are included in the current rankings. Besides Florida and LSU, Georgia is 12th, Tennessee is 17th, South Carolina is No. 21, and Auburn is 22nd.
LSU hosts the Second-Annual LSU Spring Invitational March 1-3 at the University Club in Baton Rouge.