AWENDAW, S.C. – The 28th-ranked LSU men’s golf team is looking to build momentum for the postseason with the 2010 SEC Men’s Golf Championships less than one month away, and the Tigers took a step in the right direction Sunday by finishing the first round of the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate with a one-stroke lead in the race for the team championship.
On the strength of an opening round 2-under 69 by sophomore Sang Yi, the Tigers jumped out to an early one-stroke lead over the Duke Blue Devils with a team score of 4-over par 288.
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons find themselves two shots back in third place at 6-over 290, while both the Auburn Tigers and NC State Wolfpack are three back after recording matching scores of 7-over 291.
LSU has enjoyed tremendous success in the month of March, which includes winning a team crown at the Louisiana Classics in Lafayette on March 9 and finishing runner-up in the final team standings at the John Hayt Invitational back on March 2. The Tigers are accustomed to finishing strong, but this is the first time this spring that they have taken the lead after the opening round of an event.
Yi set the pace for the Tigers on Sunday after firing an impressive round of 2-under 69 to finish the day in a tie for second place on the leaderboard. Yi finds himself just one shot out of the lead as NC State’s Matt Hill fired the lowest score of the day with a 3-under 68. Hill is the defending NCAA individual champion.
A sophomore from Carrollton, Texas, Yi carded five birdies and three bogeys on the day for his top round since posting a 69 in the second round of the David Toms Intercollegiate back on Oct. 26.
With the Tigers teeing off from the 10th hole to start the day, Yi fired out of the blocks with a birdie on the par-four 11th hole before falling back to even-par with a bogey at the par-three 14th hole. He then made the turn at 3-under for his round while making birdie on three of his final four holes on the back nine. Yi then finished at 2-under following a pair of bogeys on holes No. 3 and No. 5 and a birdie on No. 8.
Junior Andrew Loupe and sophomore Austin Gutgsell joined Yi in the Top 10 of the leaderboard after the first round while matching one another with scores of 1-over 72 in the opening round.
Loupe has put himself in early contention for his team-leading fourth top-10 finish of the season. Loupe is already the team leader with three top-five finishes on the year. Gutgsell has earned one top-10 finish with his tie for fifth place at the John Hayt Invitational earlier this month.
Sophomore Josh Jones added a 4-over 75 toward the Tigers’ final team total on Sunday as he wrapped up the day in a tie for 32nd place in the individual standings. Junior John Peterson finished the opening round in a tie for 59th place overall after carding an 8-over 79 for the afternoon.
The Tigers will play alongside Duke and Wake Forest in Monday’s second round and will open play from the front nine beginning at 9:40 a.m. CT. Live scoring can be found online at www.golfstat.com.
HOOTIE AT BULLS BAY INTERCOLLEGIATE – FIRST ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 284)
1. LSU 288 +4; 2. Duke 289 +5; 3. Wake Forest 290 +6; T4. Auburn 291 +7; T4. NC State 291 +7; 6. Clemson 294 +10; 7. Virginia 295 +11; 8. South Carolina 296 +12; 9. Kentucky 299 +15; 10. Chattanooga 300 +16; 11. East Tennessee State 301 +17; 12. Augusta State 302 +18; T13. Central Florida 307 +23; T13. Long Beach State 307 +23; 15. College of Charleston 314 +30.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 71)
1. Matt Hill, NC State, 68 -3; T2. Sang Yi, LSU, 69 -2; T2. Travis Wadkins, Wake Forest, 69 -2; T4. Spencer Anderson, Duke, 70 -1; T4. Jacob Burger, Clemson, 70 -1; T4. Will McCurdy, Auburn, 70 -1; T7. Kyle Kopsick, Auburn, 71 E; T7. Patrick Rada, South Carolina, 71 E; T9. Austin Gutgsell, LSU, 72 +1; T9. Andrew Loupe, LSU, 72 +1; T9. George Bryan IV, South Carolina, 72 +1; Luke Hopkins, Clemson, 72 +1; T9. Mitchell Krywulycz, Augusta State, 72 +1; T9. Brad Revell, NC State, 72 +1; T9. Kyle Stough, Virginia, 72 +1.
LSU SCORES
T2. Sang Yi, 69 -2
T9. Austin Gutgsell, 72 +1
T9. Andrew Loupe, 72 +1
T32. Josh Jones, 75 +4
T59. John Peterson, 79 +8