STILLWATER, Okla. — The race to the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships is off and running, and the 16th-ranked LSU Tigers have certainly put themselves in a position to qualify by finishing Thursday’s first round at the NCAA South Central Regional in a tie for second place.
The No. 4-seeded Tigers posted an 18-hole team score of 10-over par 298 to wrap up the day in a three-way tie for second place with No. 2-seeded Arkansas and No. 5-seeded Chattanooga.
The second-ranked and No. 1 seed Oklahoma State Cowboys fired an 8-over 296 to jump out to a slim two-shot lead on their home course at the Karsten Creek Golf Club.
The top five teams in the final standings at the NCAA South Central Regional will compete in the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships to be held May 26-30 at The Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. TCU and Tulsa are currently in a tie for the fifth and final qualifying spot after posting an 11-over par round of 299 in Thursday’s opening round in Stillwater.
The second round is sure to be just as competitive as Baylor is in seventh place and two shots out of the final qualifying spot with an opening round 13-over 301. Northwestern and Pepperdine are just three shots out of qualifying at 14-over 302 for the tournament.
As he has done all season long, sophomore All-SEC standout John Peterson led the way for LSU in the opening round as he finished the day in sole possession of second place on the leaderboard with an impressive bogey-free round of 2-under par 70.
Peterson, a first-team all-conference selection this season, birdied the final hole on each side with his first on the par-five 18th and his second on the par-five ninth after opening on the back nine.
Peterson is joined in the Top 10 of the leaderboard by fellow sophomore standout Andrew Loupe, who fired an even-par round of 72 during Thursday’s competition. Loupe carded five birdies with his round, while adding three bogeys and one double bogey to finish the day at level par.
Sophomore Clayton Rotz added a 4-over 76 to LSU’s team total on the afternoon as he currently sits in a tie for 37th place in the individual standings. Freshmen Sang Yi and Josh Jones were each making their NCAA postseason debut for the Tigers on Thursday and finished with two rounds of 8-over 80 and 10-over 82, respectively.
The Tigers are paired with TCU and Tulsa in Friday’s second round and will tee off from the first tee beginning at 8:50 a.m. CT. Live scoring can be found online at www.golfstat.com.
NCAA SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL ? FIRST ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 288)
1. Oklahoma State 296 +8; T2. LSU 298 +10; T2. Chattanooga 298 +10; T2. Arkansas 298 +10; T5. TCU 299 +11; T5. Tulsa 299 +11; 7. Baylor 301 +13; T8. Northwestern 302 +14; T8. Pepperdine 302 +14; T10. Michigan State 306 +18; T10. Wichita State 306 +18; 12. Denver 312 +24; 13. Oral Roberts 319 +31.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 72)
1. Trent Peterson, South Dakota State, 67 -5; 2. John Peterson, LSU, 70 -2; T3. Devin Carrey, Louisiana-Lafayette, 71 -1; T3. Kelly Kraft, SMU, 71 -1; T3. Ethan Tracy, Arkansas, 71 -1; T6. Andrew Loupe, LSU, 72 E; T6. Jonathan Bowers, Northwestern, 72 E; T6. Ben Rickett, Chattanooga, 72 E; T6. Peter Uihlein, Oklahoma State, 72 E; T6. Tom Whitney, Air Force, 72 E.
LSU SCORES
2. John Peterson, 70 -2
T6. Andrew Loupe, 72 E
T37. Clayton Rotz, 76 +4
T62. Sang Yi, 80 +8
T67. Josh Jones, 82 +10