CHARLESTON, S.C. — The LSU men’s golf team will open the 2002-03 season on Monday at the Cleveland Golf/Kiawah Island Intercollegiate at Turtle Point Golf Course in Charleston, S.C.
The Tigers, who finished 16th at the 2002 NCAA Central Regional last May, will begin the season with one of its youngest lineups in years. Three sophomores and one true freshman will join senior John Humphries in the lineup for the tournament. Humphries played in all 13 tournaments last season and is making his 14th-straight start for LSU.
Sophomore Heath West, a finalist last season for the Southeastern Conference’s Freshman of the Year honor, will make his 13th collegiate start on Monday. West led the team last season in stroke average (72.4) and top-20 finishes (6), and was tied for second on the squad with three top-10 finishes. Sophomore Tucker Ervin, a native of Mt. Pleasant, S.C., will be one of LSU’s five starters. Ervin participated in four events last season. Sophomore Jeff Riemann will make his first college start, having only played as an individual last season in two of the Tigers’ home tournaments.
Rounding out the lineup will be True freshman Aaron Smith of Longwood, Fla., will make his collegiate debut on Monday. Smith is the son of former PGA pro David Smith and will be the second true freshman to make his college debut in as many seasons for the Tigers. West was in the lineup for LSU’s first tournament last season, also at the Kiawah Island Intercollegiate.
“This tournament will be a real test for our guys, because it is a really tough field and we are also playing a lot of young guys,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones. “All these guys have worked real hard in the past couple of weeks to qualify for this tournament, and it shows how deep our team is this season.”
Senior Garrett Prather, who started all 13 tournaments last season, and sophomore Jason Horrell, who had 11 starts in 2001-02, will not make the trip next week, further confirming the outstanding depth on the LSU team this season.
“For two guys like Garrett (Prather) and Jason (Horrell) to not make the trip just shows how deep our team is and how hard all the other guys worked to make the lineup,” said Jones.
LSU finished eighth out of 15 teams in last year’s Kiawah Island Intercollegiate. Prather and West both placed in the top 25 individually. The tournament will consist of 36 holes on Monday and then the final 18 holes on Tuesday. The Tigers will tee off at 8 a.m. on Monday.
The Tigers will travel to Glenview, Ill., on Sept. 29-Oct. 1 for the Windon Memorial Classic hosted by Northwestern University following the trip to South Carolina.
2002 Cleveland Golf/Kiawah Island Intercollegiate Field:
College of Charleston (Host)
LSU
Alabama
Baylor
Florida State
Kent State
Kentucky
Maryland
Ole Miss
South Carolina
North Carolina State
Tulsa
South Carolina-Aiken
Vanderbilt
Virginia Tech