The LSU golf team is headed back to the NCAA championships after qualifying at the NCAA Franklin Regional in Tennessee last Wednesday.

The Tigers needed to come in the top five at regionals to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

LSU tied Houston for third place at 25-under-par, 839. The top four scores from each team are used in tallying the team score.

Texas won the regionals with a 45-under team score of 819.

Brandon Pierce tied four others after shooting a 217 for the three-round, three-day event. Pierce had rounds of 76, 70 and 71.

Pierce’s father, Chavgney Pierce, and his grandparents on his father’s side, Huey Pierce and Martha Pierce, are from Bogalusa. His mother, Rebecca Pierce, was an engineer at the Bogalusa paper mill and taught at Bogalusa High School.

LSU’s Eric Ricard tied for ninth with a 208 while Sam Burns finished tied for 14th at 209. Zach Wright shot a 212 to tie for 22nd and Luis Gagne tied for 39th at 216.

Houston’s Michael Perras won the regional with a 200 in a field of 75. Texas’ Doug Ghim and James Madison’s Ryan Cole tied for second, just two strokes behind. Vanderbilt’s Theo Humphrey was third at 205 and Washington’s Carol Yuan’s 206 rounded out the top five.

This is the sixth time LSU has made it to the NCAA tournament in the last seven years. Last year, the Tigers won the school’s first national title in 60 years.

The Tigers will open the 30-team NCAA tournament today in Eugene, Ore.

The first three rounds are stroke play. The field will then be cut in half and they will play another round of stroke play Monday. Then, the top eight teams will move into match play and that gets under way Tuesday.