BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s golf team is set to host the ninth-annual Country Club of Louisiana Intercollegiate Oct. 29-30 at the Country Club of Louisiana.
The tournament will be played at the par-72 CCLA on Highland Road in Baton Rouge. The course yardage is 7,060. The tournament will tee off with a shotgun start at 7:30 a.m. both Monday and Tuesday. The teams will play 36 holes on Monday and then the final 18 on Tuesday.
“We are very happy to get to play at home”, said LSU head coach Greg Jones. “The guys like to stay home because they are more comfortable, they can sleep in their own bed and get more rest.”
LSU will be joined by 14 teams, including eight Southeastern Conference teams. The Tigers will try to defend their 2000 title in which they set a 54-hole team record by shooting an 8-under 856 to win by two strokes over Tulsa. Alan Morgan set a 54-hole individual record by shooting a 10-under 206 to earn his second collegiate victory. Morgan also owns the 36-hole record for an individual, a 10-under 134.
LSU had not won the tournament since the inaugural event in 1993 until last season. The Tigers placed three golfers in the top 10 last season, with John Humphries finishing fourth and Nathan Goulding tied for eighth in his collegiate debut. Goulding and Humphries both posted 3-under 69’s in rounds two and three to help lead LSU to the victory.
Other members of the 2001 field are Florida St., College of Charleston, Tulsa, Alabama-Birmingham, North Florida, and Southeastern Louisiana. Tulsa is coached by former LSU coach Bill Brogden. Brogden coached at LSU for five seasons, winning 11 tournaments in his career.
The CCLA is LSU’s fifth tournament of the season and their final tournament of the fall. The Tigers are coming off a ninth-place finish at the 2001 Coca-Cola Tennessee Tournament of Champions Tuesday at Knoxville, Tenn. LSU was led by senior Nathan Goulding’s sixth-place finish. Goulding shot an even-par 210 to tie for sixth place. True freshman Heath West tied for 16th place, shooting a 3-over 213.
“Heath had been very consistent for us all season. The only thing he has not done yet is shoot a real low score, which is bound to happen soon.”
West, a true freshman from Dothan, Ala., will be joined by Goulding, junior Garrett Prather, junior John Humphries and freshman Tucker Ervin in the LSU lineup. Redshirt freshman Jason Horrell, junior Chip Lee, and freshman Neil Self will compete as individuals.
Ervin, a true freshman, competed at the Adams Cup earlier in the season and placed 46th. He shot a final-round even-par 70 at the tournament. West has played in three of four tournaments this season for LSU. He has two rounds of par or better, and his lowest round was an even-par 70 at the Tournament of Champions.
LSU’s best finish so far this season is eighth at both the season-opening Cleveland Golf/Kiawah Island Intercollegiate and the Gary Koch/Cleveland Golf Intercollegiate. The Tigers finished 14th at the Adams Cup.
“We have played decent so far this season, but we have made too many mistakes. We have a lot of potential and all of our mistakes are correctable.”
Four teams currently ranked in the GolfWorld Top 25 poll will participate in the tournament. Number 15 Alabama-Birmingham, 17th-ranked Tennessee, 22nd-ranked South Carolina and 23rd-ranked Auburn highlight the field.
LSU will not participate in tournament play again until February, 2002 at the Gator Invitational at Gainesville, Fla. LSU will host the LSU Spring Invitational March 1-3, 2002 at the University Club.
The 2001 CCLA Field: LSU, Alabama, Alabama-Birmingham, Arkansas, Auburn, College of Charleston, Florida St., Ole Miss, Mississippi St., North Florida, South Carolina, Southeastern Louisiana, Tennessee, Tulsa, Vanderbilt.