KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — The LSU men’s golf team struggled in the second round of the Cleveland Golf/Kiawah Island Intercollegiate on Monday, shooting a 26-over par 314 to finish the day in a tie for 13th place at 34-over 610 at Turtle Point Golf Club.
The Tigers stood alone in fourth place after round one at 8-over par, but were forced to count an 82 and an 83 in the latter round. LSU put together just three rounds of par or better in the first two rounds.
The host team College of Charleston leads the tournament after 36 holes at 5-over par 581. Ole Miss is in a distant second place, nine strokes behind the Cougars. Alabama and Vanderbilt are tied for third place at 18-over par while 19th-ranked Virginia Tech rounds out the top five at 19-over 595. Three teams currently in the top five are from the Southeastern Conference and another SEC team, Kentucky, is tied for eighth place with South Carolina-Aiken at 29-over 605.
LSU sophomore Heath West is leading the way for the Tigers so far. West is in a seven-way tie for 12th place at 3-over par 147 after shooting a 3-over 75 in round one and then even-par 72 in the second round. West tied for 25th place at the event last season in which LSU finished eighth. Sophomore Jeff Riemann, making his first collegiate start, shot a 5-over par 149 on Monday. Riemann shot even-par in the first round and followed that with a second-round 77 to tie for 25th place.
Senior John Humphries struggled for consistency on Monday, posting a solid 72 in his first round but came up with an 11-over 83 in his next round. Humphries is currently tied for 49th place. Sophomore Tucker Ervin, a native of Mt. Pleasant, S.C., shot 77-83 to tie for 73rd place. True freshman Aaron Smith made his debut for LSU and shot 80-82 and is alone in 77th place.
Vanderbilt’s Brandt Snedeker is leading all individuals after two rounds at 4-under par 140. He shot the day’s lowest round (69) in round one. The Cougars placed three golfers in the top five on Monday and Kent State’s Peter Laws is tied for fourth place at 1-over par 145.
“Today started out pretty well but we just did not play good enough in our last round,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones. “Our high scores today can be attributed somewhat to having a lot of young guys in the lineup but the bottom line is that we prepared well for this tournament and just have not come out and played well here at the start.”
“Jeff had a good day in his first college tournament, so I am real proud of him. We just did not play with much consistency today and that is why we are where we are in the standings going into tomorrow.”
LSU will tee off at 7:45 a.m. on Tuesday for the final 18 holes of the tournament. The Tigers’ next tournament will be the Windon Memorial Classic on Sept. 29-Oct. 1 in Glenview, Ill.
TEAM SCORES (Par 576)
1. College of Charleston 293-288 — 581, +5; 2. Ole Miss 299-291 — 590, +14; t3. Alabama 300-294 — 594, +18; t3. Vanderbilt 293-301 — 5. (19) Virginia Tech 292-303 — 595, +19; t6. Baylor 301-300 — 601, +25; t6. Florida State 297-304 — 601, +25; t8. Kentucky 306-299 — 605, +29; t8. South Carolina-Aiken 306-299 — 605, +29; 10. Kent State 306-301 — 607, +31; t11. (10) North Carolina State 301-308 — 609, +33; t11. (22) Tulsa 313-296 — 609, +33; t13. South Carolina 309-301 — 610, +34; t13. LSU 296-314 — 610, +34; 15. Maryland 307-304 — 611, +35
*(Current ranking according to GolfWorld Top 25 Coaches Poll in Parentheses)
TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS
1. Brandt Snedeker, Vanderbilt, 69-71 — 140 -4; 2. John Assey, College of Charleston, 72-70 — 142 -2; 3. Adam Grodhaus, College of Charleston, 71-73 — 144 E; t4. Peter Laws, Kent State, 74-71 — 145 +1; t4. Bruce McDonald, College of Charleston, 75-70 — 145 +1
LSU SCORES
t12. Heath West 75-72 — 147 +3
t25. Jeff Riemann 72-77 — 149 +5
t49. John Humphries 72-83 — 155 +11
t73. Tucker Ervin 77-83 — 160 +16
77. Aaron Smith 80-82 — 162 +18