SEA ISLAND, Ga. — The 24th ranked LSU men’s golf team will begin play in the 2001 edition of the Southeastern Conference Golf Championships Friday at the Sea Island Golf Club.
The Tigers finished fifth in the 2000 Championships held in Killen, Ala.
The nation’s top-ranked team, the Georgia Bulldogs, will attempt to win consecutive SEC titles, and their third in four years. The Bulldogs won the crown in 1998 and again last season. Auburn’s Roland Thatcher claimed medalist honors last season in Killen, but Georgia placed three golfers in the top 10.
Tiger senior Alan Morgan, a Lake Charles native, finished 10th last season in his first SEC Championship appearance. Morgan was a second-team All-SEC selection in 2000, and is an All-America candidate this season. Morgan leads the Tigers with seven top-ten finishes, two individual titles, and a stroke average of 71.0. He also has posted 24 rounds of par or better, while shooting in the 60’s 10 times this season. He owns the second-lowest stroke average in the league, and is tied with Arkansas’s Craig Lile with seven top-10s.
The Tigers capped a very successful season with an eighth place finish at the 2001 Billy Hitchcock Intercollegiate two weeks ago in Opelika, Ala. The Tigers won the eighth annual Country Club of Louisiana Intercollegiate, LSU Spring Invitational, and the Tennessee Tournament of Champions this season.
The three tournament titles was the most by an LSU team since the 1995-96 season. Morgan was the top individual at Tennessee and the CCLA in October. He finished second at the Spring Invitational back in March.
Morgan was named the SEC Golfer of the Week April 12 by the league office in Birmingham. It was the first such award for Morgan. He played two seasons at South Alabama before coming to LSU last season.
“Alan is a tremendous player and leader on our team”, said head coach Greg Jones. “He needs to play well for us to compete this weekend.”
The Tigers will be looking for solid play from others besides Morgan though. The Tigers lineup will be Morgan, senior Craig Taylor, junior Nathan Goulding, and sophomores Garrett Prather and John Humphries.
“I think Georgia is clearly the best team in our conference, but I think if we can get solid play from all five of our guys we can play with them,” Jones said. “We need to have everyone play well, because when you have just two guys playing well, there is too much pressure on them when the others are struggling.”
Eight SEC teams are currently ranked in the Mastercard top 50, so the Bulldogs will receive a challenge from more than just LSU. Florida and South Carolina join Georgia in the top ten. Georgia edged Auburn by two strokes to claim the 2000 title.
The tournament will consist of one round each day, with the final round to be played Sunday. Tee times are set for 7 a.m. each day. Sea Island Golf Club is a par-70 course with a yardage of 6,849.