LSU Falls In SEC Men's Golf Quarterfinal Match; NCAA Regional Assignment Wednesday

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Georgia – The LSU Tigers dropped their quarterfinal match here Saturday in the Southeastern Conference men’s golf championships by a 3-2 score to Alabama at the Sea Island Golf Club.

The Tide, the seventh seed, would face Texas A&M, the three seed, later on Saturday afternoon. Auburn and Florida met in the other late match. The Championship was to be decided on Sunday.

The ending, while a disappointment for the team members, did not dampen what was a good week for the Tigers, shooting the best 54-hole aggregate total in SEC play at Sea Island, finishing at 29-under par 811 to earn the second seed for match play. It was LSU’s first appearance in the match play since 2022.

“I think (the week) solidifies that we’re good,” said first-year LSU head coach Jake Amos. “Finishing second in stroke play was good for us. The guys are peaking into form. Ultimately, in match play you only need three people to win it. So, our top three guys have got to be a bit better probably for match play. But overall, it’s been a really good chance to learn a lot about the guys and learn we’re really good and ready.”

The Tigers find out their NCAA Regional assignment on Wednesday on the Golf Channel at Noon CT.

Freshman Arni Sveinsson and sophomore Jay Mendell won the two points for LSU, both in matches that reached the 18th hole, 1UP.

Sveinsson had a back-and-forth match, taking a 3UP lead in the match after six holes, only to have his opponent Nick Gross win the seventh, eighth and ninth to make the match tied going to the final nine holes. The native of Iceland came right back to get a birdie on the par 4 10th hole and then played Gross even over the final eight holes to get the point for the Tigers.

Mendell, who finished T3 in the individual competition which concluded on Friday, took his first lead of the match against Connor Brown with a birdie on the par 5 seventh hole only to have the match tied at the turn. Mendell got the lead for good with a par on the 14th hole and had a 1UP lead when the match was halted with both players on the green on 18 after Alabama had clinched the match.

One of the swing matches was Algot Kleen of LSU against Jonathan Griz. Kleen had come from two down to tie the match on the 15th hole with a par 5, but the match swung back to Alabama when Griz was able to make a two-putt par to go up 1UP on the 17th. Both players made four on 18 to end the match in the Tide’s favor.

Alabama’s other wins came in a 4&3 decision by Dominic Clemons over Matty Dodd-Berry for the first Alabama point and the official clinching point was a 3&2 win by Jones Free against Alfons Bondesson. The match was tied after 11 holes, but Free won three-of-the-next-four holes to get into winning position.

“We played nice,” said Coach Amos. “We did the right things. We didn’t have our best stuff, particularly on the back nine. I think Alabama got some momentum and starting making some shots and chipping in and holing putts from everywhere. I think it just kind of got to us a little bit, but good experience for nationals in a few weeks.”

The six regional sites for men’s golf are in Urbana, Illinois; Auburn, Alabama; Amherst, Virginia; Tallahassee, Florida; Reno, Nevada; Bremerton, Washington.

Quarterfinal Match Results
Alabama 3, LSU 2
Dominic Clemons (Ala.) d. Matty Dodd-Berry (LSU), 4&3
Jonathan Griz (Ala.) d. Algot Kleen (LSU), 1UP
Arni Sveinsson (LSU) d. Nick Gross (Ala.), 1UP
Jay Mendell (LSU) d. Conner Brown (Ala.), 1UP
Jones Free (Ala.) d. Alfons Bondesson (LSU), 3&2