The LSU men’s golf team will tee off the spring season today when it begins play at the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate in Alabama.
This is the first time LSU has played at the Magnolia Grove Crossings Golf Course and LSU coach Chuck Winstead said his team is unfamiliar with the course.
“It doesn’t bother me,” Winstead said. “Playing a course they don’t know will be good for the guys. It’s early, and we need to find where we stand relative to our competition.”
The course will play host to the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic in May.
“I heard the course is narrow, and that is about all I know,” said LSU junior Andrew Presley. “That should fit our team pretty well because we all hit the ball straight.”
The Tigers ended the fall season winning two of their final three tournaments; the Shoal Creek Intercollegiate in September and the David Toms Intercollegiate in October.
Winstead said he liked where the Tigers were heading into the break but felt his team has struggled to find consistency so far this spring.
“I wish we looked a little better,” Winstead said. “We have had some good scores in practice, but it has been sporadic and not always by the same people. I think getting back into the tournament mode will help that though.”
Behind Presley, the Tigers’ lineup will consist of junior Smylie Kaufman along with sophomores Curtis Thompson, Stewart Jolly and Myles Lewis.
“I’m definitely excited,” Presley said. “It’s been a long time since we played. The fall season ended pretty well, so I think we’re all pretty ready to start the spring.”
Presley ended the fall on a hot streak. After getting off to a slow start, the junior finished with an individual win at the David Toms Intercollegiate and a No. 9 finish at the Isleworth Collegiate Invitational.
Thompson and Jolly also claimed an individual title for the Tigers as the two co-medaled at Shoal Creek.
The 16-team field this week will include Southeastern Conference opponents Auburn, Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Mississippi State along with the defending champions from Middle Tennessee State.
The tournament will conclude Tuesday.
