LSU men’s golf struggled this week at the R.E. Lamkin Invitational with a total of 9-over 873. The Tigers fell behind early in the tournament and were unable to climb the leaderboard in the final day.
“We needed to find some momentum and our rounds went the other way each day and we found ourselves battling just to shoot around par,” interim head coach Andrew Nelson said. “To be the team we want to be we have to putt the ball better. I learned a lot from this week and we will be a better and tougher team after this.”
San Diego, the host school, won the tournament with a final score of 22-under 842. It was led by individual champion Craig Rome who finished the tournament 12-under 204. He shot a tournament low round of 7-under 65 in round two.
Connor Gaunt and Lance Yates scored the best two rounds for LSU on Tuesday. Gaunt carded an even par-72 that featured LSU’s only eagle of the day. Yates also finished at even par after a 3-under 33 on his first nine holes of the day. No Tigers finished under par in round three.
“Lance fought hard,” Nelson said. “He was never out of a round. He stayed patient and positive. He was able to turn in some solid rounds. He made 13 birdies this week and that’s a good step for him.”
Drew Doyle, Jay Mendell, and Luke Haskew all carded a 2-over 74 in the final round. Doyle completed the back nine at 1-under 35 while Mendell and Haskew were 1-over on the front and the back. LSU’s top individual player, Leo Johansson, had a 1-over 73 on Tuesday for his best round of the tournament.
“Drew fought hard and played nicely,” said Nelson. “He’s a good player and he’s really starting to find his form.”
On Monday, LSU scored a 2-under 286 in round one that was followed by a 7-over 295 in round two. Doyle was the only Tiger to finish under par on Monday at 2-under 142. Yates had the lowest LSU round on Monday with a 3-under 69 that saw seven birdies in his final eight holes.
The Tigers will have a quick turnaround as they prepare for the Louisiana Classics in nearby Lafayette, La. The 54-hole tournament will be held at Oakbourne Country Club on March 11th and 12th. Oakbourne is the home course of Mendell.
Team Leaderboard
1 San Diego 282-277-283 842 (-22)
T2 Fresno State 276-282-288 846 (-18)
T2 Colorado 282-276-288 846 (-18)
4 Georgia Tech 283-287-278 848 (-16)
T5 Loyola Marymount 279-280-290 849 (-15)
T5 New Mexico 281-288-280 849 (-15)
7 San Diego State 283-284-286 853 (-11)
8 St. Mary’s (CA) 285-289-280 854 (-10)
9 Washington 285-290-280 855 (-9)
10 Brigham Young 288-289-285 862 (-2)
T11 Santa Clara 284-299-289 872 (+8)
T11 Hawaii 287-295-290 872 (+8)
T13 LSU 286-295-292 873 (+9)
T13 Cal Poly 288-285-300 873 (+9)
15 Wyoming 291-282-302 875 (+11)
16 Colorado State 287-301-288 876 (+12)
LSU Scores
T39 Drew Doyle 70-72-74 (E)
T42 Lance Yates 69-76-72 (+1)
T52 Jay Mendell 73-72-74 (+3)
T71 Luke Haskew 74-75-74 (+7)
86 Connor Gaunt 77-78-72 (+11)
87 Leo Johansson 77-80-73 (+14) ind.
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