BATON ROUGE, La. – The No. 6 ranked LSU men’s golf team is set to play their third tournament of the spring season in Pauma Valley, Calif., this weekend at the Pauma Valley Invitational. The event is set to be played at the par-71, 7,311-yard Pauma Valley Country Club.

The Tigers enter this week as one of nine ranked teams competing in California. Virginia is the top ranked team in the field at No. 2, setting up a rematch from the last two meets where the teams went 1-1-0 against each other.

Last season the Tigers finished first overall at this tournament with a 27-under 825 performance. Algot Kleen led the way with his eight-under 205 to finish second overall, while Jay Mendell and Arni Sveinsson also finished in the top three with an identical seven-under 206.

THE LSU LINEUP

Árni Sveinsson | Sophomore | Garðabær, Iceland
This season: 68.93 stroke avg. in 15 rounds | Career: 69.86 stroke avg. in 51 rounds
Sveinsson went into the spring season as a Haskins and Ben Hogan watch list member. He closed the fall season with a tournament win as an individual with a 13-under-203 performance at the Fallen Oak Collegiate Invitational. In his four other tournaments during the 2025-26 season, Sveinsson finished in the top 15, including a second-place finish at the Jackson T. Stephens Cup. The Icelander earned two SEC Golfer of the Week honors during the fall and is ranked the No. 8 amateur golfer in the world.  He finished 2024-25 second on the team in stroke average at 70.25 for 36 rounds, making him third best in school history behind Sam Burns (2016-17) and Algot Kleen (2024-25).

Noah McWilliams | Junior | Benton, La.
This season: 69.50 stroke avg. in 18 rounds | Career: 72.11 stroke avg. in 54 rounds
McWilliams has recorded four top-10 individual finishes during the 2025-26 season so far, topped by a T2 finish at the Bryan Bros Collegiate with an 11-under 202. He averaged 72.48 for 21 rounds with nine rounds of par or under this past season. The junior scored his first-collegiate win in the Bayou City Collegiate at 12-under par 204, against a field of 81 (67-66-71).

Jay Mendell | Junior | Lafayette, La.
This season: 70.07 stroke avg. in 15 rounds | Career: 71.47 stroke avg. in 90 rounds
Mendell is hot off of his second-best performance of the season where he went eight-under 208 (67-74-67) at The Hayt to finish T6. His best performance of the year came during the fall at the Bryan Bros Collegiate where he went 11-under 217 to finish T2. This past year he was named All-Southeast Region by the Golf Coaches Association of America after a year in which her stroke average dropped from 72.36 in 2024 to 71.08 in 2025. In 36 rounds this past season, he averaged 71.08 strokes per round with 24 rounds under par.

Alfons Bondesson | Senior | Vallda, Sweden
This season: 69.89 stroke avg. in 9 rounds | Career: 70.69 stroke avg. in 45 rounds
Bondesson has only competed three times this season but is coming off a great performance at The Hayt where he finished T6 and tallied an eight-under 208 weekend in Florida. He competed individually to open the 2025-26 season at the Argent Financial Classic, posting a 10-under finish at T5. The Swedish golfer posted an average of 70.89 in 36 rounds last season, earning a win and two top-10 finishes in his first season with the Tigers. He punched 12 of his 36 rounds last year in the 60s.

Dan Hayes | Freshman | Manchester, England
This season: 70.39 stroke avg. in 18 rounds | Career: 70.39 stroke avg. in 18 rounds
Hayes is two tournaments removed from his best performance of his young collegiate career as he went six-under 210 at the Puerto Rico Classic. He had four top-25 finishes through four tournaments played in the fall. The England native has earned three Freshman of the Week honors so far during the 2025-26 season. He signed with LSU as the number one junior in Europe. Golf Channel tabbed him a preseason All-Freshmen entering the season.

THE LSU INDIVIDUALS

Matty Dodd-Berry | Senior | Wirral, England
This season: 69.87 stroke avg. in 15 rounds | Career: 71.10 stroke avg. in 39 rounds
Matty missed the Tiger’s last tournament out but performed great in his last two tournaments including an 11-under 205 to finish fourth overall at the Fallen Oak Collegiate Invitational to close the fall. He appeared in 24 rounds this past season, averaging 71.88 with nine rounds of par or under. He finished 13th at the SEC Championships at 5-under 205 (67-67-71).

PARTICIPATING TEAMS [National ranking]

Ranked: Virginia [#2], Florida [#3], LSU [#6], Oklahoma State [#7], Illinois [#9], Texas Tech [#10], Ole Miss [#13], Tennessee [#15], Georgia Tech [#20]

Unranked: Colorado State, East Tennessee State, LMU, Princeton, Toledo, San Diego, San Diego State, SMU, Toledo

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