Early in the season, both the Tigers and Lady Tigers looked to true freshmen to help fill voids left by departing No. 1 golfers.
The Tigers lost Sang Yi to graduation in May. Yi was named first team All-Southeastern Conference last season and finished his LSU career with nine top-five finishes, 15 top-10 finishes and a 73.28 scoring average.
The Tigers returned players to step into Yi’s top spot, but there was still a hole in the lineup. Enter true freshman Zach Wright.
Wright came to LSU as a highly rated junior golfer and the top ranked high school golfer in Arizona. He was considered a top-10 recruit in the nation when he signed with LSU.
While still in high school, Wright reached the Sweet 16 in match play at the 2010 United States Junior Amateur Championship and scored ten career top-10 finishes in American Junior Golf Association events.
The highly decorated freshman was able to crack coach Chuck Winstead’s lineup for the season-opening Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic at the Farm Golf Club on Sept. 7.
“I wanted to come in and contribute to the team early,” Wright said. “I wanted to come in and help the team as much as I could. So far, I think I have done that.”
Wright posted solid rounds of even par, 2-over and 4-over to help the Tigers secure a tie for fourth place at the Collegiate Classic. The Tigers, with Yi, finished eighth at the same tournament a season ago.
At 6-over, Wright finished in a tie for No. 31 individually.
“I just want to help the team,” Wright said. “I want to play well myself. If I play well myself, then I won’t be hurting the team, and that is what matters.”
The Lady Tigers were left with just as big of a hole in their lineup when sophomore Austin Ernst left the program last May.
Ernst was the NCAA individual champion in the 2010-11 season after shooting a school-record 7-under over four rounds, and was the driving force behind the Lady Tigers’ back-to-back third-place NCAA finishes.
With the Lady Tigers returning only three golfers from last season, they are relying heavily upon freshman Nadine Dreher.
Dreher is a true freshman who came to Baton Rouge from Vienna, Austria, where she was a member of the Austrian National team in 2011.
In the season-opening Cougar Classic, Dreher posted rounds of 6-over, 2-over and 6-over to finish No. 91 individually.
Though collegiate golf teams only take the top four scores on the team, each of her scores contributed to the Lady Tigers’ team score.
“I think it was a great experience for her,” said LSU coach Karen Bahnsen. “I think she was a little apprehensive in the first round, and once she settled in, she played really well in the second round. I see a lot of great things ahead of her.”
Dreher said it was a decent start, but she plans to keep working on her game.
“Right now I am in the middle [of all of the golfers],” Dreher said. “I can improve quickly because I have only been playing for five years. I can be No. 1.”
