Four Under-Par Counting Scores For LSU Men's Golf in SEC Championship Opening Round

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Georgia – The No. 7 LSU men’s golf team posted four under par counting scores and got bogey free rounds from Jay Mendell and Matty Dodd-Berry Wednesday to open the 2025 Southeastern Conference men’s golf championship on a good note at the Sea Island Seaside Course.

The Tigers posted a 9-under par round of 271 on the par 70, 7,005-yard layout and stand tied for second with Texas A&M on that number going to Thursday’s second round. Auburn leads the way with a 16-under par round of 264.

The 271 round is the second-best score recorded by LSU in SEC Championship play in raw score and third best in relation to par.

In the third round in 2014, LSU shot 263 (-17) here at Sea Island, while in the third round of the 2009 tournament, LSU shot 277 on the par 72 Frederica Golf Club in St. Simon for 11-under par.

LSU and Texas A&M are three shots clear of Oklahoma at 6-under 274 with Florida at 275 (-5). Georgia is sixth at 4-under 276 and South Carolina is seventh at 3-under 277. The cut line after one round is at -1 279, held jointly in eighth by Mississippi State and Alabama.

The top eight teams after 54 holes advance on to match play beginning on Saturday.

LSU started on the back nine and Mendell with a birdie on the par 4 14th turned at 1-under. The sophomore from Lafayette birdied the par 4 first, the par 4 fifth and the par 4 eighth to shoot 32 on the front nine and finished a 4-under par 66, which is tied for fifth in the individual competition.

Dodd-Berry, a junior transfer from England, also had one birdie on his first nine holes (the par 5 15th hole) and then birdied both the par 5 seventh (with a chip-in) and the par 4 eighth with a nice approach and putt to finish at 3-under 67. He is presently tied for 10th in the individual competition.

LSU also counted 1-under 69s from freshman Arni Sveinsson (four birdies) and junior Alfons Bondesson (three birdies).

“We talked last night about doing a really professional job out here,” said first-year LSU Head Coach Jake Amos. “Being disciplined, and doing all the things we’re good at, and the guys clearly did it today. The attitudes were great. They weren’t forcing anything. It was just a really professional performance. It was a very good day.”

Senior Algot Kleen finished out with an even par 70, with three birdies.

LSU is trying to make the match play round for the first time since 2022 and looking for its first win in the event since 2015.

Individually, Michael Heidelbaugh of Texas A&M posted a 9-under par round of 61 to the competition with nine birdies on his card. He is three shots ahead of Josiah Gilbert of Auburn at 6-under 64 and Nathan Franks of South Carolina and Cayden Pope tied for third at 5-under 65. Mendell is in a group of five golfers tied for fifth.

In all, 29 golfers in the field of 80 broke par on the opening day the featured a partly cloudy sky and light winds with temperatures in the upper 70s. Thursday is predicted for more of the same with possibly a little stronger wind as the day goes on.

Overall, the course played just over par at a stroke average of 70.31 for the 80 rounds. The toughest hole was the par 4 470-yard 18th which only surrendered three birdies and had 32 bogeys or worse. The Tigers played the hole in even par with five pars.

LSU was second in the field in par four scoring at an average of 3.83 strokes. The Tigers had 17 birdies, fourth in the field of 16 and 65 pars, also second. Dodd-Berry was one of four players to play the two par 5s in 2-under par on this course which hosts a PGA event each November. Mendell was T2 on the par 4s at -4 and a 3.67 average. Dodd-Berry was also second in pars in the field with 15.

LSU will be off again in the first wave, this time with Auburn and Texas A&M. They will go off the first tee at 8 a.m. ET, 7 a.m. Baton Rouge time.

Live scoring for the event can be found at Golfstat.com and green SEC Men’s Championship tab. Updates during the round on “X” @LSUmensgolf and @LSUKent.

SEC Men’s Golf Championship
St. Simons Island, Georgia – Sea Island Golf Club (Seaside Course)
First Round Team Results (Par 280)
(Rankings for Top 30 teams from Scoreboard by Clippd)

1 No. 2 Auburn – 264 -16
T2 No. 7 LSU – 271 -9
T2 No. 17 Texas A&M – 271 -9
4 No. 6 Oklahoma – 274 -6
5 No. 8 Florida – 275 -5
6 Georgia – 276 -4
7 No. 20 South Carolina – 277 -3
T8 No. 29 Mississippi State – 279 -1
T8 No. 15 Alabama – 279 -1
T10 No. 1 Ole Miss – 281 +1
T10 Arkansas – 281 +1
T10 Kentucky – 281 +1
13 Missouri – 283 +3
T14 No. 26 Tennessee – 286 +6
T14 No. 3 Texas – 286 +6
16 No. 18 Vanderbilt – 292 +12

Individual Top 5 (Par 70)
1 Michael Heidelbaugh, Texas A&M – 61 -9
2 Josiah Gilbert, Auburn – 64 -6
T3 Cayden Pope, Auburn – 65 -5
T3 Nathan Franks, South Carolina – 65 -5
T5 Christiaan Maas, Texas – 66 -4
T5 Drew Goodman, Oklahoma – 66 -4
T5 Jay Mendell, LSU – 66 -4
T5 Ian Gilligan, Florida – 66 -4
T5 Buck Brumlow, Georgia – 66 -4

LSU Scores
T5 Jay Mendell – 66 -4
T10 Matty Dodd-Berry – 67 -3
T21 Arni Sveinsson – 69 -1
T21 Alfons Bondesson – 69 -1
T30 Algot Kleen – 70 E