Men's golf continues spring season at The Golden Nugget

Down in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Troy men’s golf played against other teams and individuals during the Golden Nugget Invitational. A few Trojans placed well individually in the invitational, but the team ended off the week in 10th place out of 10 teams.  

While Troy as a team placed in 10th overall for the invitational, the Trojans had a strong showing during their final round Tuesday, hitting 19 birdies overall. Two Trojans broughtin under-par rounds. During the final round, no players scored more than 5-over par, either. 

Throughout the event, Lee Poppell led the Trojans in scoring, going in the negatives in every round but one during the event. He finished in 12th place overall. 

During the final round, Poppell had six birdies and no bogeys and moved up 18 places during the final round. Poppell ended the event 7-under. 

Poppell shot a 66 during the final round, which was not only his ninth round below par this year, but also the second-best round of his entire career so far. 

Pablo Gracia had a similar route as Poppell, moving up the leaderboard 17 spots from day one to day two. Gracia finished in 36th place and had six birdies on Tuesday. This meet was his ninth under-par round this season. 

As for Individuals, Thomas Crane brought in two under-par rounds. On Monday, Crane scored his second-best round of the season with a 3-under 69. On Tuesday, Crane scored 1-under with a 71, rounding him out to a tie for 30th place in the event overall. 

Grant Yerger, Pierce Becker, Haston Emblom and Landon Noble all shot a considerable number of birdies during the event. Yerger, Becker and Emblom each shot 1-over in the final round and combined for 11 birdies during the final round. Noble carded four birdies throughout the final round while maintaining his position of 69th place throughout the event. 

The Trojans will meet next in Tallahassee for Florida State’s Seminole Intercollegiate, which will take place Mar. 15-17.