MOBILE, Ala. – The LSU Men’s golf team is set to open the 2024 Spring season on Monday morning at the Hal Williams Collegiate in Mobile, Ala. at the Magnolia Grove Golf Club. The Tigers will look to carry their momentum from an impressive Fall season that featured two team wins.
Interim head coach Andrew Nelson is entering his second tournament at the helm after leading the Tigers to a win in the Fall season finale at the Everett Buick GMC Classic in Little Rock. LSU finished the event at 22-under 842 for its second best finish of the Fall.
“It’s nice to get on the road again,” said Nelson. “We have a talented group with guys that are hungry to go play. I’m ready to see them compete, it’s that time. We’ve done a lot of good work, we’ve played amongst ourselves and now it’s time to go compete against some others to see where we stack up.”
Nelson has also added former LSU great, Andrew Loupe to his staff as a full-time assistant. Loupe is a two-time NCAA All-American and has spent time on both the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour. The Baton Rouge native ranks in LSU’s top 20 in career stroke average and top ten finishes.
The 54-hole event will begin with 36 holes of stroke play on Monday and a final round of 18 holes on Tuesday. No. 33 LSU is one of 14 teams in the field that includes No. 20 Illinois, Kansas St., Louisiana Tech, Memphis, Kent State, Oral Roberts, VCU, Seton Hall, Louisiana-Lafayette, Texas St., Southern Mississippi, and host school South Alabama.
The event will be held on the Crossings Course designed by Robert Trent Jones. The track will run 7,168 yards and play as a par 71. The course has hosted events for the LPGA and on the Korn Ferry Tour.
“It’s not tight out here, so you’re going to see a lot of drivers,” Nelson said. “It’s about who’s going to get it close to the hole and who is going to putt it the best. We’re going to see a lot of birdies in this tournament and we need to be one of the teams that’s making a lot of them.”
The starting lineup will be Connor Gaunt, Jay Mendell, Lance Yates, Drew Doyle, and Noah McWilliams. Alex Price will travel to compete as an individual.
Graduate student Gaunt leads the Tigers with a 69.67 scoring average and three top ten finishes through all five events in the Fall. Gaunt has scored under par in every event this season and was named to the Haskins Award watchlist in November as one of the top 20 collegiate golfers.
Freshman, Jay Mendell will earn his sixth-straight start for LSU through all six events this season. The Lafayette native boasts a 71.53 scoring average with three rounds under par and is coming off his best outing with a 7-under 209 in the Fall finale.
Yates is a graduate student who will be starting his fifth event for LSU after transferring over the Summer for his final year of eligibility. McWilliams will join the Tigers for the second time after shooting a 1-under 215 at the Jackson T. Stephens Cup in his first collegiate tournament.
Graduate transfer Alex Price will travel to compete as an individual. Price is looking to get back on track after taking home the individual title in the season opener with a 11-under 205 at the Golfweek Collegiate Kick in the Fall.
Tiger fans can follow along through live scoring on LeaderboardKing.com and look for updates on all LSU men’s golf social media platforms.