Only one of the five starting LSU men’s golfers was able to score under par today. The leader is in the clubhouse with a score of 5-under. Why was the course so challenging on Friday?
To start, the morning brought in a thick dew that resulted in practice and warm-up times condensed. Following the dew, the sun came out and felt like an early August day. However, there was about 15-20 mph winds coming in from the west that affected some shots.
The course was also set to a level of max difficulty. There were pin locations that were tucked so squarely into corners that had double breaks and were inches from the fringe that slopes into trouble. Although, minus the tough pin locations, this is the same skeletal course the men’s squad plays religiously.
The low score, 2-under 70, of the day was from freshman Drew Doyle. He started his round 3-under through nine. He had connected on holes two and three for birdie, on the long par-5 sixth hole for an eagle and on nine, playing into the sun, he bogeyed. On the back nine he found a birdie on 10 and went on to sink six pars. Doyle bogeyed the par-4s 15 and 18 to finish 2-under, one stroke off the lead, Jerry Ji of Illinois.
The next lowest score was Garrett Barber’s 5-over. He struggled throughout the day to find a rhythm. Barber double bogeyed the opening hole, bogeyed four more holes and found a helpful birdie on eight. Barber is tied for 51^st going into the second round on Saturday.
Nicholas Arcement shot a 7-over, tying him for 71^st. He was 2-over through the first nine and went 5-over on the back nine. Arcement was showing emotions on the course today. He was visibly frustrated with the way he was playing.
Baton Rouge native, Trey Winstead, shot an 8-over, tying him for 78^th place. Winstead struggled finding fairways on Friday. He was not confident with his driver as it had let him down early in the round. He rolled in six bogeys and double-bogeyed the 18th.
The first round is over, but the tournament is in its early stages, and the purple and gold will have to play with a vengeance on Saturday. Thirteen strokes off the lead is not where you want to find yourself after the first round hosting a tournament at your home course; however, this squad has seen several of comebacks this season. Don’t count them out yet.
Round Two will begin on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. CT.