AUGUSTA, Ga. — The LSU men’s golf team shot a 2-over par 578 on Saturday at the Cleveland Gol/ASU Invitational to place 14th after two rounds at the Forest Hills Golf Club in Augusta, Ga.
The Tigers fired a 1-under 287 in round one, good for a fourth-place tie with three other teams, but dropped to the bottom of the pack with the 3-over 291 in round two. The tournament features one of the strongest fields in all of college golf this season. 10 of the nation’s top 25 teams are on hand for the weekend, as well as several of the top individuals in the country. Seven of the eight teams currently ranked ahead of LSU in the Golfweek/Sagarin Men’s District Rankings are playing in the tournament. Eight team from the region (District III South) are chosen for one of three regionals to be held next month.
The Tennessee Volunteers (No. 8 Golfweek/No. 11 Golfworld) torched the course on Saturday, firing a 21-under 555 total to lead second-place Wake Forest (No. 3 Golfweek/No. 2 Golfworld) by five strokes. The Vols score would most likely put them far ahead of any competition on most days, but Wake Forest fired a 16-under 560 to stay close to Tennessee after two rounds. North Carolina State, Clemson, and Florida are tied for third place at 9-under par.
Tennessee freshman David Skinns is the top individual at 11-under par 133. He fired a 6-under 66 in round one and followed that with an impressive 5-under 67 in round two. Teammate Andrew Black is tied for eighth at 6-under 138. Black fired a 66 in the second round. Tennessee’s highest scores were 74s shot by Ian Parnanby and Andrew Pratt in the first round.
The Tigers (No. 30 Golfweek) are ahead of just four teams at this point, but are only seven shots out of sixth place in one of the closest fields in any tournament this season. True freshman Heath West led LSU on Saturday by firing a 5-under 139 to tie for 12th place with four others. West shot a 4-under 68 in round two and is looking for his third top-10 finish of the season. Skinns and West are currently two of the top candidates for 2002 Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year Honors. West, a native of Dothan, Ala., leads the team with a 72.0 stroke average and also has five top-20 finishes on the season.
“It basically comes down to tomorrow’s round and then how they do at the SEC Championships,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones, referring to the battle between West and Skinns. “Today’s scores were just unbelievable, this is one of the toughest, if not the toughest field in any tournament this season.”
Senior Nathan Goulding is tied for 35th place at even-par 144. Goulding fired a second-round 2-under 70. John Humphries is 47th at 2-over par. The junior began the day with a 2-under 70 but struggled in round two, shooting a 4-over 76. Garrett Prather and Jason Horrell are 75th and 82nd respectively after one day of play.
“You really cannot afford to count the high scores that we had when the field is this good,” said Jones. “Tomorrow is the most important round of the season for us so far in terms of our ranking and the chance of getting to a regional next month, it is a really crucial day for our team.”
LSU will travel to Sea Island, Ga., on April 19-21 for the 2002 SEC Championships and then hope to play in a second-straight regional in May. Last season LSU tied for 19th place at the NCAA East Regional at Williamsburg, Va.
The Tigers will tee off at 9:45 a.m. on Sunday and are paired with Alabama-Birmingham and Georgia Southern.
Agate to Follow:
TEAM SCORES
1. Tennessee 283-272 — 555 -21; 2. Wake Forest 281-279 — 560 -16; t3. North Carolina State 290-277 — 567 -9; t3. Clemson 289-278 — 567 -9; t3. Florida 287-280 — 567 -9; 6. North Florida 287-284 — 571 -5; t7. Augusta State 283-289 — 572 -4; t7. Duke 290-282 — 572 -4; 9. Virginia Tech 287-286 — 573 -3; t10. North Carolina 289-286 — 575 -1; t10. Georgia 292-283 — 575 -1; t12. South Carolina 289-287 — 576 E; t12. Alabama-Birmingham 288-288 — 576 E; 14. LSU 287-291 — 578 +2; t15. Georgia Southern 293-287 — 580 +4; t15. South Carolina-Aiken 289-291 — 580 +4; 17. College of Charleston 293-290 — 583 +7; 18. Tulsa 297-290 — 587 +11
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS
1. David Skinns, Tennessee, 66-67–133 -11; 2. Ryan Hybl, Georgia, 67-68 — 135 -9; t3. D.J. Trahan, Clemson, 70-67 — 137 -7; t3. Oliver Wilson, Augusta State, 69-68 — 137 -7; t3. Brent Wanner, Wake Forest, 69-68 — 137 -7; t3. Camilo Villegas, Florida, 68-69 — 137 -7; t3. Gregg Jones, Clemson, 69-68 — 137 -7; t8. Martin Rominger, South Carolina, 72-66 — 138 -6; t8. Justin Walters, North Carolina State, 71-67 — 138 -6; t8. Andrew Black, Tennessee, 72-66 — 138 -6; t8. Bob Cherry, North Carolina, 66-72 — 138 -6
LSU SCORES
t12. Heath West 71-68 — 139 -5
t35. Nathan Goulding 74-70 — 144 E
t47. John Humphries 70-76 — 146 +2
t75. Garrett Prather 72-79 — 151 +7
t82. Jason Horrell 75-77 — 152 +8