BLACKSBURG, Va. – The No. 2-seeded LSU men’s golf team opened NCAA Regional play on Thursday with a team score of 17-over par 305 to finish the opening round of the Virginia Tech Regional in a tie for ninth place in the team standings in the event being held at the Pete Dye River Course.
Led by an opening round 3-over par 75 by senior All-American John Peterson, the Tigers finished the day just six shots outside of the top five of the leaderboard for a qualifying spot in the 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships that will be held May 31-June 5.
No. 11 seed Coastal Carolina currently holds down the fifth and final spot into the NCAA Championships after opening the Virginia Tech Regional with an 11-over 299 with two rounds still to play.
Georgia Tech, the tournament’s No. 1 seed, fired a 1-over par 289 in the first round to take a six-shot lead over No. 3 seed Duke in the team standings. Rounding out the top five of the team leaderboard following the first round are No. 5 seed Oklahoma and No. 6 seed Kent State in a tie for third place at 8-over 296.
Peterson was LSU’s top finisher with the first round as he wrapped up Thursday’s competition in a tie for 27th place overall with his 3-over 75. The Fort Worth native owns a career best NCAA Regional finish for a tie for third place at the NCAA South Central Regional during his sophomore season in 2009.
Junior Sang Yi followed Peterson by one stroke in a tie for 36th place with a 4-over 76 in the first round of play. Senior All-American Andrew Loupe and junior Austin Gutgsell added matching rounds of 5-over 77 toward LSU’s team score to finish the day in a tie for 44th place overall. Senior Ken Looper posted a 6-over 78 on Thursday to finish in a tie for 54th place in the individual standings.
Georgia Tech’s Kyle Scott is the individual leader of the Virginia Tech Regional after firing a 4-under par round of 68. Oklahoma’s Abraham Ancer follows two shots back in second place with a 2-under 70.
VIRGINIA TECH REGIONAL – FIRST ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 288)
1. Georgia Tech 289 +1; 2. Duke 295 +7; T3. Kent State 296 +8; T3. Oklahoma 296 +8; 5. Coastal Carolina 299 +11; 6. Virginia Tech 300 +12; 7. East Carolina 302 +14; 8. UNC-Wilmington 304 +16; T9. LSU 305 +17; T9. Virginia 305 +17; T11. Lamar 311 +23; T11. Ole Miss 311 +23; 13. Yale 313 +25.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 72)
1. Kyle Scott, Georgia Tech, 68 -4; 2. Abraham Ancer, Oklahoma, 70 -2; T3. Josh Brock, UNC-Wilmington, 71 -1; T3. Vaita Guillaume, Campbell, 71 -1; T3. Payne McLeod, 71 -1; T3. Brinson Paolini, Duke, 71 -1; 7. Richard Fountain, Davidson, 72 E; T8. Marshall Bailey, Virginia Tech, 73 +1; T8. Austin Cody, Duke, 73 +1; T. 8 T.J. Howe, Penn State, 73 +1; T8. Taylor Pendrith, Kent State, 73 +1; T8. Sebastian Soderberg, Coastal Carolina, 73 +1; T8. James White, Georgia Tech, 73 +1.
LSU SCORES
T27. John Peterson, 75 +3
T36. Sang Yi, 76 +4
T44. Austin Gutgsell, 77 +5
T44. Andrew Loupe, 77 +5
T54. Ken Looper, 78 +6