GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The LSU men’s golf team will open its spring season at the SunTrust Gator Invitational on Feb. 9-10 at the University of Florida Golf Course in Gainesville, Fla.
The Florida Gators, the defending tournament champions, will host the event for the 25th year and has won 17 titles in that span. Fifteen teams will make up the field for the tournament this weekend. Two additional Southeastern Conference teams (Kentucky, Florida) will join Florida and LSU at the tournament.
The Tigers have not been in action since the Country Club of Louisiana Intercollegiate in October, where they finished fifth.
Leading the way for LSU in the fall was freshman Heath West of Dothan, Ala. West leads the team with a 71.5 stroke average and is tied for second on the team with four rounds of par or better. West will be joined by senior Nathan Goulding, John Humphries, Garrett Prather and Jason Horrell in the lineup for this weekend.
LSU finished 33 strokes behind the Gators in last year’s tournament, as Florida ran away with the title by 14 strokes. Florida went on to claim the 2001 National Championship three months later. Other teams of interest that will compete this weekend are Augusta State, Georgia State, Alabama-Birmingham and Ohio State.
UAB won the CCLA team title back in October and Ohio State will host the 2002 Division 1 Men’s NCAA Championships in May.
LSU will be looking for their first tournament victory of the season, and first Gator Invitational victory since the 1987-88 season. The Tigers won three tournaments last season.
“Our guys are excited to play again, they are all expecting to play well,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones. “They have a lot of confidence right now and this is a good tournament, one with good teams and a great atmosphere.”
Following the Gator Invitational, LSU will travel to Ponte Vedra, Fla., for the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship on Feb. 18-19 and will then host the second-annual LSU Spring Invitational on March 1-3 at the University Club in Baton Rouge.
The first two round of the tournament on Saturday will begin at 8 a.m. with a shotgun start, and Sunday’s final round will begin at 8 as well. 2002 SunTrust Gator Invitational Field: LSU, Florida, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia Southern, South Florida, Alabama-Birmingham, Augusta State, Central Florida, Purdue, Ohio State, College of Charleston, North Florida, Georgia State and Florida State