KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The LSU men’s golf team shot a final-round 10-over par 290 on Tuesday to finish ninth at the 2001 Coca-Cola Tennessee Tournament of Champions at the Cherokee Country Club.
The defending champion Tigers finished the tournament with a 22-over 862 total. LSU won the 2000 Tournament of Champions title, shooting a 13-under 851. Alan Morgan also won the individual title with a 7-under 209. LSU posted identical rounds of six-over 286 on Monday to finish the day in seventh place. Senior Nathan Goulding led LSU by finishing in a tie for sixth place. Goulding, second after two rounds on Monday, shot an even-par 210 for the tournament. He shot a 3-under 67 in round one and followed that with a 2-under 68 in round two. Goulding shot a 5-over 75 in the final round on Tuesday. The sixth place finish is Goulding’s best collegiate finish. He also tied for sixth place at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship in February of 2001.
The host Tennessee won the title, shooting a 1-over 841. The Volunteers came back from a seven-stroke deficit after the first two rounds to win the tournament. Toledo led the tournament after two rounds at 2-under par. Tennessee was 5-over after Monday’s play. Auburn finished as the runner-up behind Tennessee, and Alabama, Toledo and College of Charleston rounded out the top five.
Alabama’s Nick Rousey shot a final-round 4-under 66 to win the individual title by seven strokes over Auburn’s Kevin Haefner. Rousey shot a 6-under 64 in the second round to finish the tournament with a 10-under 210 total.
Rousey shot an even-par 70 in Monday’s first round. LSU true freshman Heath West shot a 3-over 213 to finish in a tie for 16th place. West participated in his third tournament of the season for LSU and his second straight. West shot rounds of 72-71-70. The 70 in the final round was his lowest round shot this season. His previous best was a 1-under 71 in his first collegiate round at the Cleveland Golf/Kiawah Island Intercollegiate in September.
Junior John Humphries finished tied for 29th place. He shot a 6-over 216 total, including an even-par 70 in the final round. Redshirt freshman Jason Horrell shot a 13-over 223 to place in a tie for 52nd. Garrett Prather finished alone in 71st place. The junior shot a 25-over 235.
The Tournament of Champions was LSU’s fourth tournament of the season. It marked the third time out of four that the Tigers have finished in the top 10 this season in a tournament. LSU placed eighth at the Cleveland Golf/Kiawah Island Intercollegiate and the Gary Koch/Cleveland Golf Intercollegiate last week. The Tigers only time all season to finish outside the top 10 was at the Adams Cup where they finished 14th.
LSU will return home to host the ninth annual Country Club of Louisiana Intercollegiate Oct. 29-30 at the CCLA in Baton Rouge. LSU won the 2000 title, shooting an 8-under 856. The Tigers will attempt to consecutive CCLA titles for the first time in history. LSU also won the event in its inaugural year, 1993.
The CCLA is LSU’s final tournament of the fall season. The tournament will begin at 7:30 a.m. Monday with a shotgun start.
TEAM SCORES
1. Tennessee 287-278-276–841 +1; 2. Auburn 287-279-278–844 +4; 3. Alabama 288-279-279–846 +6; 4. Toledo 277-281-291–849 +9; 5. College of Charleston 281-287-283–851 +11; 6. Virginia 281-291-282–854 +14; 7. Georgia St. 288-282-285–855 +15; 8. Arkansas 290-285-281–856 +16; 9. LSU 286-286-290–862 +22; 10. Georgia Southern 288-289-297–874 +34; 11. Vanderbilt 302-284-293–879 +39; 12. Louisville 301-293-297–891 +51; 13. Florida St. 295-300-298–893 +53; 14. Louisiana-Lafayette 299-299-303–901 +61; 15. Mississippi St. 315-307-308–930 +90
TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
Nick Rousey, Alabama, 70-64-66–200 -10; t2. Kevin Haefner, Auburn, 72-67-68–207 -3; t2. Kyle Bradley, College of Charleston, 65-71-71–207 -3; t2. Kevin O’Connell, Virginia, 67-71-69–207 -3; 5. Ian Parnabay, Tennessee, 66-71-71–208 -2
LSU SCORES
t6. Nathan Goulding 67-68-75–210 E
t16. Heath West 72-71-70–213 +3
t29. John Humphries 75-71-70–216 +6
t52. Jason Horrell 72-76-75–223 +13
71. Garrett Prather 81-76-78–235 +25