AMHERST, Va. — The sixth-ranked LSU men’s golf team put together its best round of the rain-soaked 2025 NCAA Amherst Regional on Wednesday, but the Tigers came up short of advancing to the NCAA Championships.
LSU, the top seed in the 13-team field, shot a final-round 1-under 279 to cut a seven-stroke deficit to two late in round 3 at the par-70 Poplar Grove Golf Club, but the Tigers were unable to crack the top 5 which moved on to the NCAA Championships. LSU finished ninth at 14-over 854, five strokes behind fifth-place Pepperdine (9-over 849) in a tightly contested race to the finish.
“It’s not the way we wanted to end the season, and now how we saw it ending,” said first-year LSU Head Coach Jake Amos. “We have had a great year. This week won’t define what we’ve achieved this season. I’m proud of how much effort and energy the team has put into moving this program in the right direction for years to come.”
Freshman Arni Sveinsson led the Tigers with a 4-under-par 66 on Wednesday, finishing in a tie for fourth in the event at 4-under 206. Sveinsson missed individual advancement to the NCAA Championships by one stroke, as the spot was claimed by Texas State individual qualifier Sakke Siltala who tied for second at 5-under 205.
Three Tigers – junior Alfons Bondesson, senior Algot Kleen and junior Matthew Dodd-Berry – shot 1-over 71 in the final round, and sophomore Jay Mendell fired 2-over 72. Bondesson and Kleen finished in a tie for 34th at 5-over 215, while Mendell was 53rd at 10-over 220 and Dodd-Berry was 55th at 11-over 221.
In his first season as LSU head coach, Amos led the Tigers to four team titles and seven top-3 finishes in 12 events. Five different Tigers took home medalist honors in 2024-25 and the team set program records for counted-stroke average and par-adjusted scoring.
Amos’ Tigers finished runner-up in the SEC Tournament stroke-play event, and earned the No. 1 seed in this week’s NCAA Regional.
On Tuesday, LSU played only a handful of holes to start its third and final round before lightning took the teams off the course at 3:50 p.m. ET. The round resumed at 7:27 a.m. ET on Wednesday.
When play was halted late Tuesday, Arizona was tied with Florida Gulf Coast for the fifth and final qualifying spot for the NCAA Championships at 8-over par. At 15-over, LSU stood 11th in the 13-team field, seven shots behind the cut line.
With Sveinsson and Mendell 1-under-par on the first nine holes of the final round Wednesday, LSU had cut its deficit nearly in half and advanced three spots on the leaderboard into eighth. The Tigers combined to cut six strokes off the team score on the par-5 11th and par-4 14th holes, making the turn four strokes behind fifth-place Arizona which was playing ahead of LSU.
As the field made the turn for home, the six teams battling for the fifth and final qualifying spot were separated by as few as three strokes. A run of three-consecutive birdies by Sveinsson moved the freshman to 4-under for the round, while pulling the Tigers within two strokes of the cutline. However, the Tigers weren’t able to make up ground in the final four holes.
Pepperdine shot 3-under 277 to emerge from the pack and earn the final qualifying spot at 9-over 849. Oklahoma took the team title at 10-under 830, besting Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Wake Forest which also advanced to the NCAA Championships in that order.
2025 NCAA AMHERST REGIONAL
Amherst, Virginia – Poplar Grove Golf Club
Final Team Results – Par 70 (280-840)
1. #7 Oklahoma – 276-285-269 – 830 -10
2. #18 Vanderbilt – 278-279-277 – 834 -6
3. #30 Tennessee – 271-285-279 – 835 -5
4. #43 Wake Forest – 284-290-265 – 839 -1
5. #19 Pepperdine – 280-292-277 – 849 +9
—- Did not advance —-
6. #31 Arizona – 286-278-286 – 850 +10
7. Arkansas – 280-286-286 – 852 +12
8. #42 Stanford – 290-284-279 – 853 +13
9. #6 LSU – 286-289-279 – 854 +14
10. Kent State – 282-292-283 – 857 +17
11. Florida Gulf Coast – 282-283-296 – 861 +21
12. Princeton – 284-301-283 – 868 +28
13. Howard – 304-306-296 – 906 +66
Individual Top 5 (Par 70-210)
1. #23 Jackson Van Paris, Vanderbilt – 67-67-68 – 202 -8
2. #125 Clark Van Gaalen, Oklahoma – 71-68-66 – 205 -5
2. * Sakke Siltala, Texas State – 71-67- – 138 -2
4. #21 Arni Sveinsson – 72-68-66 – 206 -4
4. #35 Filip Jakubcik, Arizona – 71-65-70 – 206 -4
* advanced as the low individual not on teams that advanced to the finals
LSU Scores
T4. #21 Arni Sveinsson – 72-68-66 – 206 -4
T34. #83 Alfons Bondesson – 73-71-71 – 215 +5
T34. #10 Algot Kleen – 70-74-71 – 215 +5
T53. #54 Jay Mendell – 72-76-72 – 220 +10
T55. #150 Matthew Dodd-Berry – 72-78-71 – 221 +11