KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The LSU men’s golf team looks to defend its title at the 2001 Coca-Cola Tournament of Champions Monday at the Cherokee Country Club in Knoxville, Tenn.
The Tigers look to defend their 2000 title in which they beat Virginia by five strokes. The win last season was LSU’s first tournament win in more than two years. The Tigers won the Bridges All-American title in the 1998-99 season and then the Tournament of Champions in September of 2000.
“We are approaching this tournament the same as any other”, said LSU head coach Greg Jones. “We know we are the defending champs, but we need to keep our focus and play how we are capable of playing.”
LSU is coming off an eighth place finish at the Gary Koch/Cleveland Golf Intercollegiate last week at Tampa, Fla. LSU shot a 22-over 886, and was led by junior Garrett Prather’s 18th place finish. Prather will be joined in the lineup for Tennessee by senior Nathan Goulding, junior John Humphries, redshirt freshman Jason Horrell and true freshman Heath West.
West is making his third appearance of the season, and second straight for the Tigers. West played in the first tournament of the season at Charleston, S.C., and tied for 25th. He finished 32nd at the Gary Koch last week.
“I am hoping for a breakout performance from Heath. He is definitely one of the five best true freshman in the country, and he is capable of doing amazing things.”
The lineup for the Tournament of Champions is the same as last week’s, but is the third different combination used by Jones this season. In LSU’s first tournament of the year, the Cleveland Intercollegiate, redshirt freshman Neil Self joined Humphries, Goulding, West and Prather. True freshman Tucker Ervin and junior Chip Lee joined Prather and Horrell for the Adams Cup Oct. 2-3 at Newport, R.I.
Eight different players have seen tournament action for the Tigers this year. Last season, only 10 players participated all year for LSU, and two players played just one tournament. In the 2000-01 season Alan Morgan played in all 13 of the Tigers tournaments, and Humphries and Craig Taylor both played in 12 of 13.
Morgan, a senior last season, led LSU to the victory in Tennessee last season. Morgan shot a 7-under 209 to earn medalist honors for the first time in his career. The win was Morgan’s first of two last season. Morgan also won the 2000 Country Club of Louisiana Intercollegiate title. Morgan was named an Honorable Mention All-American last season. The Tigers posted a 13-under 851 last season in the tournament.
The field for the 2001 event includes host Tennessee, College of Charleston, Louisville, Georgia State, Florida State, Toledo, Louisiana-Lafayette and Virginia as well as six Southeastern Conference schools. Auburn, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt will represent the SEC along with LSU.
“I am looking for our team to start to gel and eliminate the mistakes we have been making. We can play as well as anybody else in the country if we can just concentrate on eliminating those costly mistakes.”
The first two rounds of the tournament will be played on Monday, and the final 18 holes will be played on Tuesday. Cherokee Country Club is a par-72 course with a yardage of 6,307.