The LSU men’s golf team joins the rest of the Southeastern Conference today at Sea Island Golf Club on St. Simon’s Island, Ga., in hopes of bringing home its first conference championship in more than 20 years.
The five-man Tiger squad is more youthful and inexperienced compared to last year’s veteran squad, which included national champion senior John Peterson and fellow senior standout Andrew Loupe.
Senior Sang Yi said this year’s lineup, which includes him and fellow senior Austin Gutgsell, sophomores Franco Castro and Andrew Presley and freshman Stewart Jolly, may be young, but they make up for it in other areas.
“Both teams are really good, but I think this year we’re more talented across the board,” Yi said. “This team is overall deeper.”
Last season’s SEC tournament resulted in a fifth-place finish for the Tigers despite Peterson tying for first and Loupe tying for sixth on the individual leader board.
Yi also participated in last year’s competition but failed to break into the top 20, falling to a tie for 31st place.
Yi said the time put into getting geared up for the tournament will help the team rise to the top as long as they avoid some common mistakes he’s seen in the past.
“It’s not so much the course setting up for us, but us adapting to the course,” Yi said. “It’s not like we haven’t prepared. It’s just more us letting it happen.”
LSU coach Chuck Winstead said the work the team has put in will speak for itself, but the mental pitfalls still need to be dealt with to ensure returning to Baton Rouge with the “W.”  
“Our biggest challenge will be guys managing their emotions when things don’t go their way, which is bound to happen over a 54-hole tournament,” Winstead said.
No. 21 LSU will face some difficult competition, with No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Auburn, No. 7 South Carolina and No. 10 Arkansas all vying for the title, but Winstead said he looks forward to watching the team face off with elite opponents.
“Obviously the competition will be at the highest level, but that is just part of being in the SEC,” he said.
The competition wraps up Sunday, and Yi and the rest of the Tigers hope to return to Louisiana with the first conference championship since David Toms donned purple and gold in 1987.