BLACKSBURG, Va. – The No. 2-seeded LSU men’s golf team will make its anticipated return to the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships for the second year in a row after wrapping up the Virginia Tech Regional in sole possession of fourth place after firing a 4-under par score of 284 during Saturday’s final round at the Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech.
Senior All-American John Peterson set the pace for the Tigers during Saturday’s finale as he fired a team-low 4-under par 68 to earn his second career Top 10 finish in NCAA Regional play.
After opening the tournament with a 17-over 305 in the first round on Thursday, the Tigers played the last 36 holes at 1-under par that included a 3-over 291 in Friday’s second round and a 4-under 284 in the third round on Saturday afternoon en route to a 54-hole score of 16-over 880 for fourth place.
The top five teams in the final team standings at this weekend’s Virginia Tech Regional earned a spot into the 30-team field competing at the 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships that will be played from May 31-June 5 at Oklahoma State’s Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla.
The No. 3-seeded Duke Blue Devils fired a tournament-low 8-under 280 in the final round to overtake the No. 1-seeded Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets by four shots for the regional title with a score of 1-over 865.
Also joining LSU at the NCAA Championships will be No. 5 seed Oklahoma in third place at 11-over par 875 and No. 6 seed Kent State in fifth place at 29-over par 893 for the weekend.
The Tigers will now join the national championship chase for the second-straight season after finishing in 24th place in stroke play at the NCAA Championships just one year ago when the event was played at The Honors Course in Chattanooga, Tenn. The top eight teams in the stroke play at the NCAA Championships advance to compete in a single-elimination match play tournament for the national championship.
The No. 8-ranked Tigers rebounded from a ninth-place finish after the first round as they moved into their NCAA qualifying position in fifth place after the second round and fourth place after the final round.
“Obviously, no one in our program likes finishing in fourth place. With that said, we played as well in the last two rounds as we’ve played all year,” said LSU head coach Chuck Winstead. “We played a great golf course this weekend, one that tests all parts of the game. I am most proud of the mental toughness showed by these guys this weekend, and their ability to come back and play some very good golf to finish it off.”
Peterson, the 21st-ranked player in the country in the latest Golfweek individual rankings, surely cemented his All-America status for the third time in his career with his performance this weekend while posting his lowest round of the tournament with a 4-under 68 to finish in a tie for sixth place on the leaderboard.
Peterson carded a 1-under 215 in three rounds to earn his second career Top 10 finish in a NCAA regional and his team-leading eighth Top 10 finish in 12 tournament starts during the 2010-11 campaign.
The Fort Worth native was flawless during the final round as he carded four birdies with no bogeys for 18 holes while firing the second-lowest round in the field on Saturday. Peterson dipped into red figures for the first time with a birdie at the par-five No. 3 and never looked back, as he added birdies at the par-three No. 7, the par-five No. 12 and the par-four No. 15 while holing out on No. 18 with a 4-under 68.
While competing at the NCAA Championships, Peterson will return to the site of his first Top 10 finish in regional competition, as he tied for third place at the 2009 NCAA South Central Regional Championships during his sophomore season while firing a 5-over 221 in 54 holes at Karsten Creek Golf Club.
Seniors Ken Looper and Andrew Loupe each fired their lowest rounds of the championship Saturday with Looper carding a 2-under 70 and Loupe adding a 1-under 71 toward LSU’s final team score.
After going out with a 5-under 31 on his front nine highlighted by an eagle 2 at the par-four No. 2, Looper fell back with three bogeys on his back nine for a final score of 2-under 70. Loupe carded four birdies and three bogeys en route to his 1-under 71 as the duo finished in a tie for 25th place at 7-over par 223. In their final NCAA Regional, the three seniors in LSU’s lineup were a combined 7-under par on Saturday.
Junior Sang Yi rounded out the scoring for the Tigers in the final round after posting a 3-over 75 to finish in a tie for 14th place on the leaderboard at 4-over 220. Yi opened the round in a tie for fifth place.
Junior Austin Gutgsell wrapped up the weekend with a 7-over 79 on Saturday while finishing the event in a tie for 51st place overall with his 54-hole score of 15-over 231.
Oklahoma’s Abraham Ancer fired a 3-under 69 en route to a two-stroke victory over Georgia Tech’s Kyle Scott and James White and Coastal Carolina’s Sebastian Soderberg as he posted a 6-under 210 in 54 holes at the Virginia Tech Regional. Duke’s Tim Gornik propelled the Blue Devils to the team title this week as he set the course record on Saturday with his tournament-low 6-under 66.
VIRGINIA TECH REGIONAL – FINAL ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 864)
1. Duke 295-290-280 – 865 +1; 2. Georgia Tech 289-293-287 – 869 +5; 3. Oklahoma 296-292-287 – 875 +11; 4. LSU 305-291-284 – 880 +16; 5. Kent State 296-296-301 – 893 +29; 6. Virginia Tech 300-300-296 – 896 +32; 7. Coastal Carolina 299-300-299 – 898 +34; 8. Virginia 305-297-298 – 900 +36; 9. East Carolina 302-304-300 – 906 +42; 10. Ole Miss 311-306-299 – 916 +52; 11. UNC-Wilmington 304-314-300 – 918 +54; 12. Lamar 311-301-309 – 921 +57; 13. Yale 313-305-305 – 923 +59.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 216)
1. Abraham Ancer, Oklahoma, 70-71-69 – 210 -6; T2. Kyle Scott, Georgia Tech, 68-73-71 – 212 -4; T2. Sebastian Soderberg, Coastal Carolina, 73-72-67 – 212 -4; T2. James White, Georgia Tech, 73-71-68 – 212 -4; 5. Julian Suri, Duke, 76-70-68 – 214 -2; T6. John Peterson, LSU, 75-72-68 – 215 -1; T6. Josh Brock, UNC-Wilmington, 71-73-71 – 215 -1; T8. Tim Gornik, Duke, 75-75-66 – 216 E; T8. Payne McLeod, UNC-Wilmington, 71-74-71 – 216 E; T10. Joe David, Ole Miss, 77-71-71 – 219 +3; T10. Blake Redmond, Virginia Tech, 78-71-70 – 219 +3; T10. Ryan Sirman, Oklahoma, 74-75-70 – 219 +3; T10. Peter Williamson, Dartmouth, 74-73-72 – 219 +3.
LSU SCORES
T6. John Peterson, 75-72-68 – 215 -1
T14. Sang Yi, 76-69-75 – 220 +4
T25. Ken Looper, 78-75-70 – 223 +7
T25. Andrew Loupe, 77-75-71 – 223 +7
T51. Austin Gutgsell, 77-75-79 – 231 +15
2011 NCAA Championships Field (May 31-June 5, Stillwater, Okla.)
FLORIDA REGION
Teams
1. Florida
2. Augusta State
3. Kennesaw State
4. North Carolina State
5. Arkansas
Individual
Jace Long, Missouri
VIRGINIA REGION
Teams
1. Duke
2. Georgia Tech
3. Oklahoma
4. LSU
5. Kent State
Individual
Sebastian Soderberg, Coastal Carolina
INDIANA REGION
Teams
1. Michigan
2. Alabama
3. Illinois
4. Tennessee
5. Iowa
Individual
Lee Bedford, Wake Forest
COLORADO REGION
Teams
1. Oklahoma State
2. Colorado State
3. Northwestern
4. Georgia
5. Arizona State
Individual
Geoff Gonzalez, Cal Poly
ARIZONA REGION
Teams
1. San Diego State
2. Texas A&M,
3. California
4. Arizona
5. Pepperdine
Individual
Matt Hansen, UC-Davis
SAN DIEGO REGION
Teams
1. UCLA
2. USC
3. San Diego
4. Ohio State
5. Texas
Individual
Jason Millard, Middle Tennessee