ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — The No. 25 LSU men’s golf team started postseason play on Wednesday with round one of the SEC Championship at the Sea Island Golf Club. The Tigers carded an opening round score of 3-under 277, which was the third lowest score in the 14 team field.
Drew Doyle and Cohen Trolio were the catalysts for LSU in round one with 3-under 67s. It was a tale of two different scorecards for Doyle and Trolio, but they both signed for 67s. Doyle and the rest of LSU’s squad started on No. 10, but it was Doyle who came out of the gates with four birdies on his first nine holes. He birdied Nos. 11, 13, 15, and 18 for his 4-under 31; three of those four birdies came on par fours. He had a little bit of a hiccup on the par 4 fifth resulting in a double, but he rebounded with a birdie on No. 8 to solidify his 3-under 67.
Trolio’s round didn’t get off to quite as hot of a start as Doyle’s, but Trolio did close strong, very strong. Sitting at 2-over for the round through seven holes, he birdied the 192-yard par 3 17th to regain his footing. He opened with a 1-over 36 before firing a 4-under 31 on his second nine of the day. His birdies on his second nine came in twos as he holed back to back birdies on Nos. 2 & 3 as well as Nos. 7 & 8. The 3-under 67s have Doyle and Trolio in a six-way tie for second, one shot behind the leader, Ryan Hall (South Carolina).
Garrett Barber was his usual steady self with a 1-under 69 making hit his 24th round counted towards LSU’s team score this season in 28 tries. He went out in an even par 35 with one birdie, seven pars, and one bogey before closing with two birdies, six pars, and a bogey on his second nine. Barber is in a tie for 13th place.
Both Michael Sanders and Nicholas Arcement turned in 4-over 74s to complete LSU’s team score at 3-under 277 (67, 67, 69, 74). LSU only trails Vanderbilt (-7) and Georgia (-4) on the team leaderboard, and Texas A&M (-1) was the only other school to shoot under par on the day.
Round two is scheduled to begin at 8:40 a.m. CT Thursday morning for LSU. The Tigers will go off hole No. 1 in 10-minute increments in the following order: Michael Sanders, Nicholas Arcement, Garrett Barber, Drew Doyle, Cohen Trolio. LSU will be playing alongside Georgia and Vanderbilt on day two.
(Press release provided by LSU Athletics)