St. Simons Island, Ga. – Brisk and windy conditions proved difficult for low scores on day two of the SEC Championship at the Seaside Course at Sea Island Golf Club Thursday, but the No. 23 LSU men’s golf team turned in a quality 4-over 284 to move up into a tie for third place after 36 holes of play.
Garrett Barber shot a resilient 1-under 69 on Thursday to lead LSU. He stumbled out of the blocks bogeying three of his first five holes, but he turned his round around and ended up with the lowest score of the day for the Tigers. In fact, his 1-under 69 was one of only six under par rounds on the day in the field of 70 golfers. After the rough start, Barber birdied the par 5 7th hole and came through nine holes at 2-over 37. He started the back nine off with four pars before rattling off three birdies in four holes on Nos. 14-17 to close with a 3-under 32. Barber’s performance shot himself up 21 spots on the individual leaderboard into a tie for 12th place after two rounds at 1-over 141 (72-69).
Drew Doyle (1-over 71), Connor Gaunt (2-over 72), and Michael Sanders (2-over 72) registered solid scores as well to round out LSU’s team score of 4-over 284. It was the second best team round of the day only trailing Alabama’s 3-under 277. Alabama is the clubhouse leader with a 1-over 561, four strokes ahead of LSU.
Gaunt sits in solo third after 36 holes at his first SEC Championship event at 3-under 137 (65-72). Georgia’s Spencer Ralston is the individual leader at 5-under 135, two strokes ahead of Gaunt.
Doyle’s two-day total for the tournament is at 6-over 146 (75-71) and his 1-over 71 today moved him up 18 spots into a tie for 38th. Freshman Nicholas Arcement is tied for 38th as well at 6-over 146 (70-76).
Sanders carded his 2-over 72 thanks to 16 pars and two bogeys; the 16 pars by Sanders are a career high for him in an LSU uniform in a single round. Sanders is tied for 51st for the event at 8-over 148 (76-72).
The third and final round of stroke play will begin for LSU at 7:20 a.m. CT on Friday morning. In order to advance to match play, LSU needs to be one of the top eight teams at the conclusion of stroke play.