The LSU golf teams will begin collegiate golf’s championship season this weekend with road trips to the Southeastern Conference Championships.
The ninth-ranked men’s team will face an elite field at the Sea Island Golf Club in St. Simon’s Island, Ga.
Five other SEC programs are ranked in the top 15 of the latest Golfweek rankings, and the Tigers will have to take down rivals like No. 2 Alabama and No. 6 Florida to claim the conference title.
Despite the challenging field, the Tigers’ play of late, with two victories in the last two events, has them as one of the favorites heading into the three-round tournament on the 6,600 yard, par-70 layout.
Senior All-Americans Andrew Loupe and John Peterson will again anchor an LSU squad that has not finished outside of the top five in any event this spring.
The Tigers have finished in the top five at the SEC Championship each of the previous two seasons, including a fifth-place result last year on the same Seaside Course at Sea Island they will play this weekend.
For the women’s squad, which is just two weeks removed from its worst outing of the season, the task is no easier.
Seven of the top 20 teams in the country will tee it up with the No. 6 Lady Tigers this weekend at the Auburn University Club in Auburn, Ala.
The Lady Tigers finished 13th in the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic at the University of Georgia two weeks ago under the unusual best ball format.
LSU women’s coach Karen Bahnsen said her team has practiced particularly well the last two weeks.
Top-ranked senior Megan McChrystal is expected to be one of the top individual performers at the championship.
 
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