BATON ROUGE — Monday’s ideal weather conditions invited low scores from the 14-team field at this year’s University Club Intercollegiate, and the participants took advantage.
LSU sophomore Chris Wells fired a 9-under 135 to tie SMU’s Will Dodson for first place after two rounds of the tournament.
“The course was set up really well today,” said Wells. “It wasn’t very windy like it normally is, and the pins were pretty easy. I can see how there were so many low scores.”
Forty-five players finished the day at even par or better, and the 75 participants combined for a 71.76 scoring average. SMU head coach Jay Loar agreed that the weather conditions were perfect for players to shoot low scores.
“We had absolutely perfect weather out there today,” said Loar. “There was no wind, and the golf course is in fabulous shape. We also have a very strong field here, so that had something to do with it as well.”
The Mustangs lead Arkansas by five shots after posting a 27-under 549, which is the University Club’s 36-hole record for a men’s collegiate golf tournament. SMU broke the old mark of 561 set by Furman in last year’s LSU Spring Invitational.
“We had a good, solid team effort today,” said Loar. “When you shoot those kinds of scores, you have to have at least four guys playing well. We’ve been working hard to come together as a team. We have the same team that got to the NCAA Championships last year, but we have had a hard time gelling. Today, we seemed to put it all together.”
Wells paced tournament host LSU to a fifth-place finish after the first day. The Tigers shot a 14-under 562, and their 10-under 278 in the second round is a school record at the University Club.
“Ten-under is a good score, but we’ve got to go lower,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones. “Obviously, the whole field went low, and it’s a pretty impressive set of scores that were shot. We’ve just got to get all of our guys into the 60s. This is basically a contest to see how many guys can get into the 60s.”
Wells’ second-round 66 is the lowest score recorded by an LSU golfer in a tournament at the University Club. He said that the key to his success was keeping the ball in the fairway and taking advantage of each birdie opportunity he had.
“I was just able to keep it in play really well,” said Wells. “I didn’t get into any trouble where I could make big numbers, and I left myself with a lot of good opportunities to make birdies. I tried to stay clear of trouble and play smart golf.”
Final-round action will begin with tee times starting at 8:00 a.m. Tuesday. LSU tees off at 8:40 with the leaders teeing off in the final wave beginning at 9:20.
UNIVERSITY CLUB INTERCOLLEGIATE
TEAM SCORES (Par 576)
1. SMU 275-274 — 549 -27; 2. Arkansas 275-279 — 554 -22; t3. Georgia Southern 282-277 — 559 -17; t3. Ole Miss 281-278 — 559 -17; 5. LSU 284-278 — 562 -14; 6. Kent State 280-284 — 564 -12; 7. Alabama 288-277 — 565 -11; 8. Auburn 284-282 — 566 -10; t9. Mississippi State 280-289 — 569 -7; t9. Tulane 286-283 — 569 -7; 11. Baylor 285-285 — 570 -6; 12. North Florida 288-283 — 571 -5; 13. UAB 292-281 — 573 -3; 14. College of Charleston 288-292 — 580 +4
TOP 25 INDIVIDUALS (Par 144)
1 Will Dodson, SMU, 68-67 — 135 -9
1. Chris Wells, LSU, 69-66 — 135 -9
3. Peter Laws, Kent State, 68-68 — 136 -8
3. Jeremy Alcorn, Baylor, 68-68 — 136 -8
3. Michael Thompson, Tulane, 68-68 — 136 -8
3. David Palm, Georgia Southern, 67-69 — 136 -8
3. Jason Turner, Arkansas, 67-69 — 136 -8
8. Colt Knost, SMU, 72-65 — 137 -7
8. Matt Bortis, Arkansas, 68-69 — 137 -7
8. Greg Huxman, Mississippi State, 67-70 — 137 -7
11. Jordan Dempsey, Ole Miss, 69-69 — 138 -6
12. Clint Provost, Alabama, 72-67 — 139 -5
12. Will Osborne, Arkansas, 71-68 — 139 -5
12. Jeff Riemann, LSU, 69-70 — 139 -5
12. Matthew Myers, Auburn, 70-69 — 139 -5
16. Jon David Kennedy, Georgia Southern, 70-70 — 140 -4
16. Bill Roach, Jr., Tulane, 69-71 — 140 -4
16. Brandon DeStefano, SMU, 70-70 — 140 -4
16. Beck Troutman, LSU, 70-70 — 140 -4
20. Mark Harrell, Alabama, 73-68 — 141 -3
20. Scott Abbott, SMU, 69-72 — 141 -3
20. Kurt Watkins, Georgia Southern, 75-66 — 141 -3
23. Chris Wheeler, Tulane, 73-69 — 142 -2
23. Heath West, LSU, 71-71 — 142 -2
23. Scott Campbell, Arkansas, 69-73 — 142 -2
23. Will Claxton, Auburn, 72-70 — 142 -2
23. Ryan Michals, Ole Miss, 70-72 — 142 -2
23. Stuart Moore, Auburn, 70-72 — 142 -2
23. B.K. Suhr, North Florida, 74-68 — 142 -2
23. Callum Macaulay, Ole Miss, 71-71 — 142 -2
23. Steve Lohmeyer, Kent State, 69-73 — 142 -2
LSU SCORES
1. Chris Wells 69-66 — 135 -9
12. Jeff Riemann 69-70 — 139 -5
16. Beck Troutman 70-70 — 140 -4
23. Heath West 71-71 — 142 -2
46. Jake Shaw 71-74 — 145 +1
62. Brent Struthers 75-73 — 148 +4
62. Brandon Aydlett 75-73 — 148 +4
62. Garrett Runion 77-71 — 148 +4
74. Aaron Smith 75-78 — 153 +9