Mens Golf Seventh at CCLA BATON ROUGE — A two-putt par on the 10th green gave David Bennett of North Florida the Country Club of Louisiana Intercollegiate individual championship on the fifth hole of sudden death Tuesday afternoon.
Bennett defeated Jedd McLuen of the College of Charleston after the two had tied at the end of 54-holes of regulation play at 5-under par 211. McLuen and his Charleston team finished some 90 minutes ahead of Bennett, who played in the final group of the wind-blown day and both posted 1-under par rounds of 71 on the final 18.
Second round leader Michael Sims of Rhode Island, who was 9-under par entering the final 18 holes, would finish with a 6-over 78 and a 3-under 213 total, good enough for third place.
Bennett kept the playoff alive with key five-to-eight foot par putts on the first four holes of sudden death as the two players played the first and 18th holes twice. The match appeared over on the third playoff hole when Bennett hit his second shot from the right rough heavy, leaving him some 65 yards to the first green.
The junior from Stowe, Ver., lofted a wedge over a sand trap and rolled the ball to eight-feet where he made par to keep the playoff going, but only after a 30-foot birdie putt by McLuen stopped one roll short of going in..
On the fifth hole, with both players in the fairway, McLuen’s shot landed in the collection area to the left of the 10th green. Bennett, hitting second, took a 6-iron and threw it right over the flag from 162 yards out, some 15-feet away.
“That shot took a lot of pressure off,” said Bennett. But it put it all on McLuen, who’s chip went well past the pin, allowing Bennett to two-putt for his par and the victory when McLuen’s put to halve the hole rolled past.
“That was my first playoff,” Bennett said as he raced for the team’s van and a mad dash to catch a flight at the Baton Rouge airport. “I think its without a doubt the toughest wind conditions I’ve ever played in.”
The individual win overshadowed a strong performance by the Bennett’s teammates as they captured the CCLA team title with a 16-over par score of 880. With the scoring average up almost 4.5 strokes on the final day because of the windy conditions, North Florida posted a 12-over par 302 and won the title by nine strokes over Middle Tennessee State, the College of Charleston and Alabama-Birmingham all at 889.
Middle Tennessee State ended up taking the runner-up plaque home because it had the lowest score of its fifth player for the 54-holes.
“David and our whole team did great,” said UNF Coach John Brooks, whose team is presently 16th in the GolfWeek/Sagarin rankings. “The whole field struggled with the wind, but I think we drew off our experience of hitting in the wind, keeping it low.”
LSU, in third after 36-holes, struggled on the final day, finishing in seventh at 31-over par 895. Jeremy Wilkinson and Alan Morgan were LSU’s top scorers, at 6-over par 222.
“The wind took away our home course advantage,” said first-year LSU Coach Greg Jones. “I think any time you have wind or weather, it’s a real equalizer for the field. North Florida is loaded and played great. We were in striking distance with nine holes to play, but it just seemed to slip away from us.”
This is the final tournament of the fall for the Tigers, until the spring semester.
“We had a pretty good effort this fall and I think we’ll get progressively better,” Jones said.
Country Club of Louisiana Intercollegiate
Baton Rouge, La.
Team Results (Par 288-864)
1. North Florida 296-282-302 — 880 +16
2. Middle Tennessee St. 302-285-302 — 889 +25
2. College of Charleston 295-296-298 — 889 +25
2. Alabama-Birmingham 289-294-306 — 889 +25
5. Ole Miss 300-292-299 — 891 +27
6. Mississippi State 288-300-305 — 893 +29
7. LSU 291-293-311 — 895 +31
8. Florida State 291-298-307 — 896 +32
9. Memphis 295-291-315 — 901 +37
10. Rhode Island 303-292-308 — 903 +39
11. Georgia State 297-302-306 — 905 +41
12. South Alabama 304-291-312 — 907 +43
13. Louisiana-Lafayette 300-298-311 — 90 +45
14. South Florida 295-297-318 — 910 +46
15. Troy State 295-298-319 — 912 +48
16. Furman 294-300-320 — 914 +50
17. Southern Mississippi 302-308-318 — 928 +64
18. Central Florida 299-309-323 — 931 +67
Top 25 Individuals (Par 72-216)
1. David Bennett, N. Florida 71-69-71 — 211 -5 (wins playoff on 5th hole)
2. Jeff McLuen, Charleston 70-70-71 — 211 -5
3. Alex Rocha, Miss. State 70-71-71 — 212 -4
4. Michael Sims, Rhode Island 69-66-78 — 213 -3
5. Josh Broadaway, Troy State 69-69-76 — 214 -2
6. Daniel Ozley, UAB 72-69-74 — 215 -1
7. Jon Bartlett, Ole Miss 73-69-75 — 217 +1
8. J. R. Wade, MTSU 73-70-76 — 219 +3
8. Dan Chartrand, Memphis 72-67-80 — 219 +3
10. Brett Alexander, MTSU 73-69-78 — 220 +4
10. Kris Hannah, Florida State 76-72-72 — 220 +4
12. Kevin Mock, N. Florida 73-71-77 — 221 +5
13. Jeremy Wilkinson, LSU 70-72-80 — 222 +6
13. Alan Morgan, LSU 73-73-76 — 222 +6
13. Matt Johnson, Troy St. 72-72-78 — 222 +6
13. Zach Davis, USA 73-74-75 — 222 +6
17. Jay Mundy, Furman 72-74-77 — 223 +7
17. Phil Caravia, Ole Miss 74-76-73 — 223 +7
17. Orn Hjartarson, La-Laf. 74-74-75 — 223 +7
20. Kyle Bradley, Charleston 77-75-72 — 224 +8
20. Michael Beckers, LSU 71-73-80 — 224 +8
22. Richard Ainley, La. Laf. 72-73-80 — 225 +9
22. Ben Smith, Miss. St. 72-79-74 — 225 +9
22. Matt Borchert, N. Florida 76-72-77 — 225 +9
22. Barry Briggs, Georgia St. 76-73-76 — 225 +9
22. Graeme McDowell, UAB 71-76-78 — 225 +9
Other LSU Scores
t56. John Humphries 79-76-76 — 231 +15
t56. Mike Vallillo 77-75-79 — 231 +15