The second half of LSU golf’s season is just around the corner. The men’s team is participating in five upcoming tournaments this spring, while the women’s team is playing in six.
Both teams are participating in some of the most prestigious NCAA regular-season tournaments, where they’ll be matched up against many other high-ranked programs they’re likely to see again in the postseason.
Puerto Rico Classic
Both the men’s and women’s teams open their spring season with the Puerto Rico Classic, taking place the weekend of Feb. 9. Both teams have a history of opening up their spring season in this tournament.
Last year, the men’s team participated in the tournament in its spring opener, where the Tigers finished fourth among other top programs. The men also had strong finishes in individuals, with Arni Sveinsson finishing third and Algot Kleen finishing tied for sixth.
The women have also had great success in this tournament, finishing second in 2024, only one stroke behind Arkansas. Both teams will face SEC rivals, with the women’s team matching up against schools such as Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Arkansas, while the men’s team faces Georgia, Oklahoma and Tennessee.
The Tigers will want to start their spring season off strong and record a top placement in this major regular-season tournament.
Title defending
The LSU men’s team is returning to the Pauma Valley Invitational on March 16, after finishing first in the tournament last year. Last year, LSU beat out other top programs like Texas and Tennessee in taking the tournament home, and this year’s matchups will be no different.
LSU will be facing multiple top 10 teams this year, including No. 6 Florida and No. 8 Oklahoma State.
In such a competitive tournament, LSU will be forced to perform well to beat out these other top programs and hold onto its No. 2 ranking.
“It will be nice to go back to a couple of events and defend our title at the Pauma Valley Invitational,” Head coach Jake Amos said. “Every event was chosen for a reason and has a purpose in giving us the best platform to achieve everything we want to achieve both as a team and individually.”
Last year, the women got their only tournament win of the season at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate, where they will return to defend their title the weekend of March 2. LSU has had a history of success in this competition, winning twice in the past three years.
It might have a tougher time this go around, with the new selection of teams participating. This year’s tournament will feature nine top 20 programs, including No. 5 Wake Forest, No. 7 Auburn, No. 10 Vanderbilt, No. 11 Texas, No. 13 Arizona State, No. 15 Ole Miss, No. 16 Duke, No. 17 South Carolina and No. 19 Northwestern.
It is very likely that LSU will face one of these teams again in either the SEC or NCAA tournament, making this competition an important test for the Tigers.
Invitationals
Both LSU golf teams finish their regular seasons with competitive invitationals. The men are participating in the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational, and the women are playing in both the Clemson and ULM invitationals.
The men’s team has a long history of playing against top 50 programs at Augusta, dating back to the 2006 Administaff Augusta State Invitational. LSU will again have to face off against some top programs in this 54-hole tournament, including Illinois and North Carolina.
LSU will want to finish its regular season well and outperform other top-ranked teams with the postseason in sight.
The women’s team returns to the annual Clemson Invitational, which it has participated in since 2022. The Tigers are looking to get their second tournament win this go around, after a strong third-place finish last year.
The Tigers then participate in the ULM Invitational, which will serve as a bit of a morale booster before the SEC tournament.
Here, the Tigers will face smaller southern schools based in Arkansas, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama. They’ll enter the tournament ranked significantly higher than the other competitors, which should help the Tigers finish their season with a tournament win.
LSU has plenty of great golf to be watched throughout this spring. Hopefully, both teams can retain their success in tournaments they previously won, while also pulling off other big tournament wins against other top programs.
