ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — The LSU men’s golf team got out to an early start Friday in the first wave of tee times beginning at 7 a.m. CDT and finished the afternoon in a tie for third place after the first round of the SEC Championships at Sea Island Golf Club.
The Tigers battled through high winds and chilly temperatures at the Seaside Course to post a team total of 21-over par 301 and finish the opening round in a tie with 16th-ranked Tennessee.
The Tigers were among the first groups to finish play early in the afternoon as they sat in 10th position with nine teams still out on the course. With winds gusting as high as 30 mph throughout the afternoon, scores began to rise and the squad quickly caught up with the rest of the field.
“We had a nice start today, but we need to keep in mind that this is a 54-hole golf tournament,” said LSU head coach Chuck Winstead. “It was obviously a tough day weather wise, but I think that played to our advantage and we were able to put together a nice round.”
Senior Chris Wells has put himself in a position to earn his best career finish at the conference tournament as he also finished the day in a tie for third place after firing a 3-over 73 on Friday. Wells tied for 31st in his first career appearance in 2005 while tying for 33rd place a year ago.
The Mobile, Ala., native made the turn at even-par on his round and was 1-under through 13 holes after making birdie on the par-four 10th hole. But a double bogey on the difficult par-four 14th followed by a pair of bogeys on No. 15 and No. 18 put him four shots out of the lead with a solid round of 3-over 73.
“I played really well for the first nine holes or so, but I gave away a few shots on the back nine,” Wells said. “My short game was working well for me today. There’s a lot of golf to be played, and I’m just going to try to go out and play one shot at a time for the next 36 holes.”
Freshman Bryant Lach also posted a solid round for the Tigers on Friday by carding a 5-over 75 to sit in a tie for 15th place in his first career appearance at the SEC Championships. The native of The Woodlands, Texas, kept his focus after making the turn at 4-over for the championship with a solid back nine of 1-over 36.
Junior Brian Noonan carded an opening round 6-over 76 to finish the day in a tie for 23rd place, while fellow junior Beck Troutman is one stroke back in a tie for 31st at 7-over 77 and freshman Brent Blaum is tied for 47th place following a 10-over 80 in his championship debut.
“There’s a lot of golf still left to be played, and we need to come out focused and mentally prepared to play well again tomorrow,” Winstead said. “It will be a lot of fun to see how we react to the circumstances when we tee it up tomorrow.”
The Ole Miss Rebels sit atop the leader board after 18 holes of the nation’s premier conference championship as they will open the second round with a three-stroke lead over Alabama after posting a team total of 15-over 295 on Friday. Vanderbilt rounds out the top-five as they follow LSU and Tennessee in fifth place at 22-over 302.
Sophomore Will Roebuck of Ole Miss was the only golfer to fire an under-par round on the day as he leads the championship after firing an impressive round of 1-under 69. Junior Patton Kizzire of Auburn is three strokes back in second place at 2-over 72, while Wells leads a contingent of four golfers in a tie for third at 3-over 73.
The Tigers will tee off in the final wave beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday as they are paired with Alabama and Ole Miss in the second round. Live scoring of the event is provided by Golfstat and can be found by logging on to www.golfstat.com.
2007 SEC MEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS ? FIRST ROUND
TEAM SCORES (Par 280)
1. Ole Miss 295 +15; 2. Alabama 298 +18; t3. LSU 301 +21; t3. Tennessee 301 +21; 5. Vanderbilt 302 +22; t6. Florida 304 +24; t6. South Carolina 304 +24; t6. Auburn 304 +24; t6. Mississippi State 304 +24; 10. Georgia 308 +28; 11. Kentucky 312 +32; 12. Arkansas 316 +36
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 70)
1. Will Roebuck, Ole Miss, 69 -1; 2. Patton Kizzire, Auburn, 72 +2; t3. Chris Wells, LSU, 73 +3; t3. Andrew Landry, Arkansas, 73 +3; t3. Luke List, Vanderbilt, 73 +3; t3. Gator Todd, Alabama, 73 +3; t7. Florian Fritsch, South Carolina, 74 +4; t7. Noah Goldman, Mississippi State, 74 +4; t7. Billy Horschel, Florida, 74 +4; t7. Brian Mason, Mississippi State, 74 +4; t7. Carlos Sainz, Mississippi State, 74 +4; t7. Matthew Swan, Alabama, 74 +4; t7. Brendon Todd, Georgia, 74 +4; t7. Tino Weiss, Tennessee, 74 +4
LSU SCORES
T3. Chris Wells 73 +3
T15. Bryant Lach 75 +5
T23. Brian Noonan 76 +6
T31. Beck Troutman 77 +7
T47. Brent Blaum 80 +10