The LSU men’s golf team finally opened its renovated home course on a challenging day for scoring with a two-round total of 13-over-par 589 at the LSU Invitational on the renovated University Club golf course.
Saturday’s second round featured 36 holes spread over two rounds and 12 hours, and the University Club showed its newfound difficulty after the course was overhauled last year.
The day began with an early shotgun start and the first 18 ended with No. 9 LSU, No. 12 Iowa and Minnesota all tied for first with identical 7-over 295s.
A brief break between the rounds gave way to another shotgun start, which signaled the second round’s start in the afternoon.
The players seemed to figure out the course a bit in their second crack at the University Club, as the two lowest individual and three lowest team scores were posted during the afternoon wave.
The Tigers shot a 6-over 294 in the second round to finish in third place, just two shots back of No. 45 Michigan, who is in the lead with a two round total of 11-over 587.
All-American John Peterson continued his remarkably consistent senior campaign with a first round total of even par followed by a second-round score of 2-under 70 and is tied for third entering the final round.
Overall, there are four Tigers in the top 10 of the individual standings.
Two of them, freshman Andrew Presley and senior Clayton Rotz, are playing as individuals and do not count toward LSU’s team total.
Presley carded consecutive even-par 72s to finish in sixth place and Rotz contributed a 36-hole score of 3-over par 147 to place in tenth.
Senior Andrew Loupe rebounded from a first-round 75 with a 71 in the second round to sit in a tie for eighth with a two-round total of 2-over 146.
The final round gets underway with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. Sunday.
Meanwhile, the LSU women’s golf team continued to have problems with the challenging University of Georgia Golf Course but shot an 8-over-par team score in round two of the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic to finish the day a tie for 15th.
The tournament is being played with the unique best ball format, which uses the four best scores on each hole from each team and is a rare format for official competition.
The No. 6 Lady Tigers again seemed out of sorts with the best ball format, as the squad managed just seven birdies all day, but did improve on their round one performance enough to move three spots up the leaderboard.
LSU is 23-over par through two rounds and trails the leader, No. 2 Alabama, by 21 shots entering Sunday’s third and final round.
Top-ranked senior Megan McChrystal again led the Tigers by shooting a 4-over 76, but sits outside of the top 15 heading into a final round for the first time this season in a tie for 39th.
Freshman Austin Ernst matched McChrystal’s 4-over 76 score to finish round two in a tie for 51st place.
Junior Jacqueline Hedwall was the Lady Tigers’ next best option for the day, as she posted a 6-over 78 in Saturday’s second round.
The final round begins with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. Sunday.