TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The 23rd-ranked LSU men’s golf team shot a 7-over par 291 on Friday in the first round of the Conrad Rehling Alabama Spring Invitational at the Capstone Club in Tuscaloosa to place in a tie for third.
The Tigers are nine shots behind leader Minnesota, who is at 2-under par 282. Toledo is second with a 3-over 287 score, and LSU is tied with host Alabama in third. Purdue rounds out the top five at 9-over par. The College of Charleston, last year’s winners, are in tenth place at 16-over. Purdue’s Lee Willamson and Michigan State’s J.J. Beckstrom are tied for the individual lead after a round after firing 4-under 67s on Friday. LSU junior John Humphries is tied for eighth place at 1-under par after shooting a 70 Friday. Humphries is looking for his second top-10 finish of the season.
True freshman Heath West shot a 1-over 72 to place in a tie for 14th. The Dothan, Ala., native already has two top-10 finishes this season along with three top-20 finishes. Senior Nathan Goulding is in 26th place with a 3-over 74, Jason Horrell is tied for 30th with a 4-over 75, and Garrett Prather is 40th with a 5-over 76.
LSU is currently ahead of five teams ranked ahead of them in its district (District III South), and finishing ahead of those teams would be crucial for the Tigers bid for a potential spot in a regional come May. Eight teams are selected from the district to advance to regional play, and the Tigers are currently 13th. LSU appeared in the NCAA East Regional last season at Williamsburg, Va., and finished tied for 19th place.
“This is a very important tournament for us because we are getting very close to time when teams for the regionals are selected, and there are several teams in our district ahead of us at this point,” said LSU men’s golf coach Greg Jones. “We shot pretty well today but we still need to get all five guys to shoot low numbers and give us a chance to win.”
LSU is in position for its second tournament victory of the season after its performance on Friday. The Tigers won the Gator Invitational last month at Gainesville, Fla., and won a weather-shortened LSU Spring Invitational two weeks ago. Poor weather enabled the teams to only play one round in the tournament, in which LSU shot a 9-under 279 to finish first.
LSU’s next tournament is the Schenkel/E-Z-Go Invitational on March 23-24 at Statesboro, Ga. The Tigers will play round two of the Conrad Rehling Invitational on Saturday and then the final round will be held on Sunday at the Capstone Club.
CAPSTONE CLUB (PAR 71, 6,996 yds.)
TEAM SCORES
1. Minnesota 282 -2; 2. Toledo 287 +3; t3. Alabama 291 +7; t3. LSU 291 +7; 5. Purdue 293 +9; 6. Michigan State 294 +10; t7. Alabama-Birmingham 295 +11; t7. Ole Miss 295 +11; 9. Kentucky 299 +15; 10. College of Charleston 300 +16; 11. South Carolina 302 +18; 12. Miami (Ohio) 303 +19; 13. Illinois 304 +20; 14. Vanderbilt 310 +26
TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS
t1. Lee Williamson, Purdue, 67 -4; t1. J.J. Beckstrom, Michigan State, 67 -4; t3. Graeme McDowell, UAB, 68 -3; t3. Brent Delahoussaye, South Carolina, 68 -3; t3. Wilhelm Schauman, Minnesota, 68 -3
LSU SCORES
t8. John Humphries 68 -3
t14. Heath West 72 +1
t26. Nathan Goulding 74 +3
t30. Jason Horrell 75 +4
t40. Garrett Prather 76 +5