PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Members of the LSU men’s golf team fought through blustery conditions Sunday to finish the first round of the 16th-annual Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship at Sawgrass Country Club in a tie for fifth place in the team standings.
The Tigers are currently tied for the fifth spot in the 15-team field with tournament host North Florida and South Carolina with a 20-over par 308 and find themselves 18 shots off the pace heading into Monday’s second round.
“Considering the difficulty of the conditions and course today I was proud of the way our guys competed,” said LSU head coach Chuck Winstead. “It was really a tough day to play golf. The wind blew 20-plus mph throughout the round, and the wind chill was in the 30s when we started this morning. It’s as if shooting a 75 or 76 was even-par today. It was certainly tough for everybody to deal with.”
Sophomore Brian Noonan is in position to earn his best finish of the season as he paced the Tigers with a 3-over 75 and finished the first round in a tie for 11th place. Noonan, whose previous best is a tie for 36th at the Coca-Cola Tournament of Champions in September, was 1-under on his final five holes of the day.
“Brian Noonan showed tremendous improvement today in managing his emotions,” Winstead said. “He was able to play more ‘in the present’ and show what can be done when you have that mindset. This is an area we’ve been focusing on as a team, and it’s nice for Brian to see some success for his efforts.”
Noonan is followed closely behind by junior All-SEC performer Chris Wells, who finished the day in a tie for 18th with a 4-over 76. Fellow sophomore Beck Troutman is currently in a tie for 23rd with a 5-over 77, while senior Andrew Lanahan is tied for 50th and sophomore Brent Struthers is tied for 72nd.
“I can’t say enough about how our guys handled the conditions today,” Winstead said. “We were not surprised by how it was, and that is something that we prepared for in the time leading up to this tournament. I felt confident that we prepared well, and we just have to stay committed to that for two more days.”
UCLA finished the first round with a 10-stroke lead over Alabama after firing an impressive 2-over 290. Bruin freshman Erik Flores was one of only four players to finish the day at par or better as he leads the individual competition by three strokes with a 4-under 68. The Texas Tech duo of Andrew Dresser and Oscar Floren is three strokes back with a 1-under 71.
The Tigers are paired with Missouri and Texas-Arlington in the second round with tee times beginning at 7:30 a.m. CST. Live updates will be provided at the conclusion of each round at www.golfstat.com.
“We’ve got 36 more holes to play, and we know the conditions will continue to be similar for the next two days,” Winstead said. “The challenge for our guys now is to continue to commit to taking the game one shot at a time and stay in the present. If we do that, we can have a nice finish and get this spring season off on the right note.”
MERCEDES-BENZ COLLEGIATE CHAMPIONSHIP — FIRST ROUND
TEAM SCORES (Par 288)
1. UCLA 290 +2; 2. Alabama 300 +12; 3. Texas Tech 301 +13; 4. Georgia State 304 +16; t5. LSU 308 +20; t5. North Florida 308 +20; t5. South Carolina 308 +20; 8. Texas-Arlington 309 +21; 9. Missouri 312 +24; t10. Auburn 313 +25; t10. Tennessee 313 +25; 12. Mercer 317 +29; 13. UAB 318 +30; 14. Coastal Carolina 319 +31; 15. Florida 320 +32
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 72)
1. Erik Flores, UCLA, 68 -4; t2. Andrew Dresser, Texas Tech, 71 -1; t2. Oscar Floren, Texas Tech, 71 -1; 4. Mark Harrell, Alabama, 72 E; t5. Lloyd Campbell, Tennessee, 73 +1; t5. Kevin Chappell, UCLA, 73 +1; t7. Darren Baynes, Georgia State, 74 +2; t7. Florian Fritsch, South Carolina, 74 +2; t7. Dustin Johnson, Coastal Carolina, 74 +2; t7. James Lee, UCLA, 74 +2
LSU SCORES
t11. Brian Noonan 75 +3
t18. Chris Wells 76 +4
t23. Beck Troutman 77 +5
t50. Andrew Lanahan 80 +8
t72. Brent Struthers 83 +13