BATON ROUGE — The final round of the second-annual LSU Spring Invitational was called off Sunday in mid-round due to harsh weather conditions and snow flurries at the University Club.
The tournament was scheduled to feature three days of play with 18 holes each day. Friday’s first round was canceled due to heavy rain and thunderstorms, so the 20-team field teed off on Saturday morning and played one round. Temperatures never got above 30 degrees on Sunday and winds gusted up to 28 mph. The wind chill made it seem like 21 degrees.
LSU led the tournament after Saturday’s play by two strokes over Tulsa. The Tigers fired a 9-under 279 and had two golfers tied for the individual lead at 4-under par. Five golfers were tied for first place. Mississippi State’s Codie Mudd, Tulane’s Mark Sullivan, Oral Robert’s Andreas Christensson and John Humphries and Heath West of LSU each shot rounds of 4-under 68.
“It was not a matter of skill out there today, it was a matter of survival,” said LSU true freshman Tucker Ervin.
LSU was awarded the team championship, their second consecutive LSU Spring Invitational title. Tulsa was the runner-up for the second straight year as well. Last season LSU finished five strokes ahead of Tulsa to win the inaugural tournament. Tulsa shot a 7-under 281 on Saturday. LSU played five individuals in addition to its five starters at the tournament, and seven of the 10 shot par or better in their round. Ervin fired a 2-under 70, Jason Horrell shot a 1-under 71, Neil Self shot a 71, and Nathan Goulding and Garrett Prather each shot even-par 72. Jeff Riemann shot a 1-over 73, Brandon Aydlett finished his round with a 2-over 74 and Chip Lee shot a 6-over 78.
“I am kinda disappointed that we had to win the tournament this way,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones. “I feel bad for all these teams that had to travel so far for just one round of golf, but it was just miserable out there for those guys, it is just too bad.”
The first group of players teed off at 7:36 a.m. and got through 13 holes before being called in to the clubhouse. One group of LSU individuals, Rhode Island and Troy State teed off together first and then nearly completed their round, as they were set to tee of on No. 14 before heading inside.
LSU will next participate at the Conrad Rehling Invitational on March 15-17 at Tuscaloosa, Ala.