BATON ROUGE — The 19th ranked LSU men’s golf team will host the first-annual LSU Spring Invitational Monday at the University Club. The tournament is comprised of 18 teams, including six from Louisiana.
Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana-Lafayette, Tulane, McNeese State and Southeastern Louisiana will join the Tigers for the two-day event.
The teams will play 36 holes Monday and then the final 18 Tuesday. The teams will tee off around 7:30 a.m. both days. This will be the second tournament of the season hosted by LSU. The Tigers hosted and won the eighth-annual Country Club of Louisiana Intercollegiate in October, and set numerous CCLA records in the process.
The Tigers shot a tournament record total of 856, highlighted by a final round 2-under par 286 to edge the University of Tulsa by two strokes for the victory. Senior Alan Morgan, an All-America candidate from Lake Charles claimed the individual title at the CCLA. Morgan shot back-to-back 67’s on the tournament’s first day for a 36-hole record of 134. He shot a 72 in the final round for a tournament total of 206, finishing 10-under par.
Morgan has been the Tiger’s leader all season long. He also took the top spot at the Tennessee Tournament of Champions in September. The Tigers also won the tournament as a team. It was head coach Greg Jones’ first career win at LSU. Morgan leads the team with four top-10 finishes, and two individual titles. Morgan was named to the All-SEC second team in 1999-2000. He has the second-lowest stroke average on the team at 70.7.
Junior transfer Nathan Goulding is the only player on the LSU team with a better stroke average than Morgan. Goulding, a native of Cohuna, Australia, has a stroke average of 70.6, with two top-10 finishes this season.
Goulding made his first career appearance for the Tigers at the CCLA in October and made an immediate impact. He shot back-to-back 69’s to finish in tie for 10th place.
Goulding tied a school record by shooting a 66 in the first round at the 2001 Suntrust Gator Invitational two weeks ago in Gainesville, Fla. He finished 21st there, and then placed sixth at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship last week in Jacksonville. The Tigers finished third at the Mercedes-Benz. It was the team’s sixth top-10 finish of the season.
The Spring Invitational is the Tigers third tournament of the spring season, with three remaining before the SEC Championships in April. Jones feels this tournament will be good for golf in the state, and a chance for his team to play well in a familiar atmosphere.
“This tournament features a very diverse field, and it is very good for golf in the state,” said Jones. “We are very happy to get to host two home events in one year. Stanford is the only other school in the country that hosts two home events in the same city in one season.”
Jones said his team is very excited about staying home for a tournament and he feels it is also nice to play at home again after claiming such a thrilling win at the CCLA.
“These guys love to play at home. They told me that it is neat to put on their uniform and drive their own car to the golf course.”
The Tigers are in great position to make a run at a championship this season. They are ranked in the top 20 in the nation, and Morgan and Goulding have established themselves as premier players in collegiate golf.
Senior Craig Taylor and sophomore John Humphries will join Morgan and Goulding in the starting lineup for the Tigers Monday, as the Tigers will look to give Jones his third win as head coach in his second year at the helm.
This tournament includes a few interesting sidebars. Tulsa head coach Bill Brogden coached at LSU from 1972-76, and won 11 tournaments, and one of the teams participating is South Alabama- the school where Jones coached for six years before taking over at LSU.
“We have teams in this tournament from all across the country, from Rhode Island to Florida. I am also glad that we have South Alabama here and it is also nice to have Bill Brogden back again in Baton Rouge.”
The Tigers will next travel to Statesboro, Ga. March 24-25 to particiapte in the Schenkel E-Zo-Go Invitational following the Spring Invitational.