FRANKLIN, Tenn. – Freshmen Luis Gagne and Sam Burns both made their NCAA Regional debuts for the Tigers in Monday’s first round at the NCAA Franklin Regional and set the pace for the week with Gagne firing a score of 3-under par 69 and Burns following with a 2-under par 70 in the event being held at the Vanderbilt Legends Club.
The No. 3-seeded Tigers finished even-par for the day with an opening-round 288 for seventh place in the 13-team field and just three shots outside of a top-five finish for NCAA Championship qualification.
The top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Texas Longhorns raced out to an early 11-shot lead at the NCAA Franklin Regional as they lapped the field with an impressive 20-under par 268 for the day. No. 11 seed East Carolina was also strong out of the blocks with a team score of 9-under 279 for second place, followed by No. 4 seed Washington and No. 8 seed Kennesaw State in a tie for fourth place at 5-under 283 and No. 2 seed and No. 9-ranked Vanderbilt and No. 5 seed Virginia also under par in a tie for fifth place at 3-under 285.
LSU’s rookies were outstanding throughout the round as Gagne carded five birdies and two bogeys for a team-low 3-under 69, while Burns added four bogeys and one double bogey for a 2-under 70. Gagne ended the day in a tie for eighth place on the leaderboard with six other golfers, and Burns finished just one shot outside the Top 10 in a tie for 15th place overall.
Gagne dipped into red figures for the first time in his round with a birdie at the par-five seventh hole before falling to 2-under with a birdie at the par-four 10th to kick start his back nine. After dropping back to even-par with back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 12 and 13, Gagne finished strongly with three birdies in his final five holes at the par-five 14th, par-four 17th and par-five 18th holes.
Burns’ only blemish was a double bogey at the par-four 11th hole, while he also birdied the seventh, 10th and 17th holes along with the par-four eighth hole for the team’s second-lowest score of the day at 2-under 70.
Junior All-American Eric Ricard battled through an opening round that saw him post four birdies on his card along with two bogeys and two double bogeys for a counting score of 2-over par 74. LSU’s senior All-American and National Player of the Year candidate Zach Wright finished with a 3-over par 75 to level LSU’s team score for the afternoon.
Junior All-American Brandon Pierce rounded out LSU’s five-man lineup during Monday’s play in a tie for 55th place in the individual standings with a final score of 4-over par 76 in the first round of the tournament.
Texas was led to the top of the team standings in Monday’s action by Doug Ghim, who shot to the top of the leaderboard with a score of 8-under 64 thanks to six birdies and one eagle for the day. Longhorn teammate Taylor Funk, Houston’s Michael Perras and Washington’s Carl Yuan followed just one shot back in a three-way tie for second place overall with rounds of 7-under par 65.
The Tigers are paired with Houston and Tennessee-Martin in Tuesday’s second round as they will tee off from the back nine beginning at 8 a.m. CT. Live scoring of the second and third rounds of the tournament will be provided by Golfstat as fans can follow the Tigers in action online at http://www.golfstat.com.
NCAA FRANKLIN REGIONAL – FIRST ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 288)
1. Texas 268 -20; 2. East Carolina 279 -9; T3. Washington 283 -5; T3. Kennesaw State 283 -5; T5. Vanderbilt 285 -3; T5. Virginia 285 -3; 7. LSU 288 E; T8. Houston 293 +5; T8. UT-Martin 293 +5; 10. Georgetown 295 +7; 11. Pepperdine 296 +8; 12. Michigan 303 +15; 13. Troy 305 +17.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 72)
1. Doug Ghim, Texas, 64 -8; T2. Michael Perras, Houston, 65 -7; T2. Carl Yuan, Washington, 65 -7; T2. Taylor Funk, Texas, 65 -7; 5. Patrick Cover, UNC-Wilmington, 67 -5*; T6. Jimmy Stranger, Virginia, 68 -4; T6. Wesley Conover, East Carolina, 68 -4; T8. Luis Gagne, LSU, 69 -3; T8. Chris Guglielmo, Kennsaw State, 69 -3; T8. Hunter Richardson, UT-Martin, 69 -3; T8. Timothy Conover, East Carolina, 69 -3; T8. Al Dickens, East Carolina, 69 -3; T8. Scottie Scheffler, Texas, 69 -3; T8. Ryan Cole, James Madison, 69 -3.
LSU SCORES
T8. Luis Gagne, 69 -3
T15. Sam Burns, 70 -2
T42. Eric Ricard, 74 +2
T46. Zach Wright, 75 +3
T55. Brandon Pierce, 76 +4
* – Denotes player competing as an individual.