LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The LSU men’s golf team shot a final-round 17-over par 305 on Saturday to finish 16th at the 2002 NCAA Central Regional held at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock.
The Tigers missed qualifying for the 2002 NCAA Championships by 12 strokes, as the top 10 teams out of the 27-team field advanced to the championships, which will be held May 29-June 1 at Columbus, Ohio. LSU finished tied for 19th place at the 2001 East Regional at Williamsburg, Va.
Oklahoma State and Purdue tied for the title, at 1-over par 865 for the tournament. Purdue, who tied Oklahoma and Kent State for the Central championship last year, fired an 8-over 296 on Saturday while Oklahoma State shot a 9-over 297 for the final round. Tulsa shot a 9-over 297 to finish in third place, 11 shots behind the co-champions, Illinois placed fourth and North Carolina State rounded out the top five.
Senior Nathan Goulding was LSU’s best finisher, shooting a final-round 3-over 75 to finish tied for 37th place at 6-over par 222. John Humphries shot a final-round 77 to end the regional tied for 45th place. True freshman Heath West shot a 74 in round three and finished tied for 55th place. Jason Horrell tied for 75th place at 12-over par, and Garrett Prather finished 22-over par in 120th place.
Purdue’s Lee Williamson took home medalist honors with a 7-under 209 score. He shot even-par 72 in his final round on Saturday. Bret Guetz of TCU, and Chris Mayson of Purdue tied for second place individually at 5-under 211. Toledo’s David Jones placed fourth and two golfers tied for fifth place.
“We really never could string a couple of good rounds together here this weekend,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones. “We knew this would be a challenge to come here and play this tough collection of teams, but we just left some shots out there and did not capitalize on quite a few opportunities that we had.”
LSU finished the 2001-02 season with two tournament victories, a fourth-place finish at the Southeastern Conference Championships, and a second-straight NCAA regional appearance.
TEAM SCORES
(Par 864)*Top 10 Teams advance to NCAA Championships (May 29-June 1 at Columbus, Ohio)
t1. Oklahoma State 287-281-297 — 865 +1; t1. Purdue 290-279-296 — 865 +1; 3. Tulsa 296-283-297 — 876 +12; 4. Illinois 293-290-296 — 879 +15; 5. North Carolina State 294-286-300 — 880 +16; 6. Toledo 291-287-303 — 881 +17; 7. Baylor 292-286-304 — 882 +18; t8. TCU 289-292-304 — 885 +21; t8. Virginia Tech 296-287-302 — 885 +21; 10. Colorado 294-293-299 — 886 +22; t11. Kansas 289-290-308 — 887 +23; t11. Oklahoma 289-288-310 — 887 +23; 13. Northwestern 298-297-293 — 888 +24; 14. SMU 291-294-306 — 891 +27; 15. Alabama 292-295-306 — 893 +29; 16. LSU 301-292-305 — 898 +34; t17. Lamar 306-298-297 — 901 +37; t17. Texas-Arlington 303-297-301 — 901 +37; 19. Houston 304-301-301 — 906 +42; 20. Missouri 298-304-307 — 909 +45; 21. Maryland 299-304-309 — 912 +48; 22. Arkansas State 314-300-307 — 921 +57; 23. St. John’s 308-312-303 — 923 +59; 24. Austin Peay 313-308-311 — 932 +68; 25. Princeton 314-313-312 — 939 +75; 26. Army 319-318-316 — 953 +89; Jackson State (DNF)
TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS
1. Lee Williamson, Purdue, 70-67-72 — 209 -7; t2. Bret Guetz, TCU, 68-72-71 — 211 -5; t2. Chris Mayson, Purdue, 73-65-73 — 211 -5; 4. David Jones, Toledo, 70-69-73 — 212 -4; t5. Franklin Hatchett, SMU, 69-73-71 — 213 -3; t5. Tom Johnson, Northwestern, 72-70-71 — 213 -3
LSU SCORES
t37. Nathan Goulding 74-73-75 — 222 +6
t45. John Humphries 76-70-77 — 223 +7
t55. Heath West 75-76-74 — 225 +9
t75. Jason Horrell 76-73-79 — 228 +12
t120. Garrett Prather 78-77-83 — 238 +22