LSU men’s golf has work to do in round two to qualify for the NCAA Championships

LSU golfer Connor Gaunt is leading the way for the Tigers after the first round of the Baton Rouge Regional wrapped up yesterday.

Gaunt is tied for second place after he knocked in a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole of the day. He fired a 4-under 68 in round one. Gaunt’s second place score featured three birdies and three on the back.

“Seeing everybody back there was something that I worked hard for, and I really wanted that putt to go in,” Gaunt said. “The hole was looking like a five-gallon bucket, so I was excited to put it in.”

LSU finished the first round at 7-over 295 and tied for ninth place. The Tigers still have two rounds to go as they look to fight into the top five before the end of the regional on Wednesday. LSU currently sits 4-strokes outside of fifth place. The top five teams and one individual will move on to the NCAA Championships on May 24-28 at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa.

“I feel good about the team moving forward because we finished well and gave ourselves a chance to be right in this thing,” LSU’s interim head coach Andrew Nelson said. “We’re four shots out of 5th place and all you need is to be top five. You never want to play for 5th but we’re only four shots away from where we need to be.”

Luke Haskew has the next best score for LSU behind Gaunt with a 3-over 74. The Baton Rouge native birdied twice on his home course. Alex Price and Jay Mendell both finished at 4-over 76 as the final two contributing scores for LSU.

Virginia currently sits in first with an 8-under 280 and the individual lead Deven Patel. He shot a 5-under 67 in round one.

Pos     Team               R1

1  Virginia                     280      -8

2  Auburn                     285      -3

T3  Ohio State             289 +1

T3  Houston                289      +1

5  Duke                         291      +3

T6  Texas Tech           292      +4

T6  Oregon                  292      +4

8  South Carolina       293      +5

9  Lipscomb                294      +6

10  LSU                      295      +7

11  Louisville               301     +13

12  Loyola Maryland  310     +22

13  Yale                         320     +32

14 UAPB                       321     +33

Pos     Individual       Team        R1

1  Deven Patel                Virginia       67       -5

T2  Wolfgang Glawe   Houston       68      -4

T2  Connor Gaunt   LSU            68      -4

T4  Josiah Gilbert       Auburn         70      -2

T4  Calum Scott         Texas Tech    70      -2

T4  Bryan Lee             Virginia         70      -2

T4  Jackson Koivun   Auburn         70      -2

T4  Neal Shipley       Ohio State       70      -2