LSU men’s golf is in a two-way tie for fifth place at the Old Waverly Collegiate Championship after 36 holes of play. The squad dropped four spots on the leaderboard after leading the field on Friday. One Tiger is in the top-10 and four others are in the top-50.
Coach Chuck Winstead travelled to West Point, Mississippi, with one of the youngest travel squads we’ve seen this season: two freshman, one sophomore and three juniors. Winstead’s son, junior Trey Winstead, is missing from this week’s lineup again, marking the second tournament in a row he has not competed.
“I’ve been struggling with my ball-striking and have been working to clean up my technique,” Winstead told The Reveille on Friday.
Not suffering from a physical injury, the timeline for his return to the starting lineup is dependent on his improvement. However, while still in Baton Rouge and practicing getting better, Winstead has been in contact with his teammates offering them support.
“I’ve been texting with them in a group chat reminding them that they’re studs, trust in their game, and keep their foot on the gas,” Winstead said.
Going into the weekend the Tigers had a two-stroke advantage over the field, and it dissipated on Saturday, but not due to poor performance, but rather simply getting out-played. LSU finished 3-under as a team on Saturday. Texas A&M, who is in the lead, shot a collective 14-under, second-place Georgia shot an 11-under, and third-place Arkansas shot a 19-under.
LSU’s 3-under was propelled by Michael Sanders, who shot a 3-under. Sanders carded three bogeys, three birdies and one eagle. Sanders is 1-over for the tournament and tied for 44th. Sophomore Connor Gaunt who fired off a 4-under in Round One was even-par on Saturday. Gaunt remains at 4-under and tied for ninth.
Junior Garrett Barber is tied for 18th at 2-under after his even-par round on Saturday. Freshman Nicholas Acrement is tied for 30th at 1-under. Arcement also posted an even-par score on Saturday. The other freshman, Drew Doyle, posted a 1-over, 73, on Saturday bringing his collective score to 1-over, tied for 44th.
Junior Chris Woollam is valiantly battling the field, tied for 59th. Woollam is playing as an individual this week, which means his score will not be counted toward the team’s collective score. This week Woollam is showing his worth. On Saturday, Woollam posted a sub-par score of 1-under, with four birdies and three bogeys. He is collectively 3-over and looking to impress on Sunday.
The third and final round will begin for LSU at 8:50 a.m. CT on Sunday morning.