GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The LSU men’s golf team will open the spring season at the 2003 SunTrust Gator Invitational on Saturday in Gainesville, Fla., returning to action for the first time in nearly five months, having last played at the Tennessee Tournament of Champions on Oct. 21-22, 2002.
LSU, the defending champions of the Gator Invitational, were scheduled to host the Country Club of Louisiana Intercollegiate last October in baton Rouge, but heavy rain postponed the tournament and it has yet to be re-scheduled. The Tigers picked up one of the program’s biggest victories in history last season in Gainesville, firing a 6-over par 846 to edge three teams by a stroke, winning their first Gator title since 1988.
LSU finished in a tie for sixth place at the Tennessee Tournament of Champions in Knoxville, Tenn., in their most recent tournament of the season with both Heath West and John Humphries placing in the top 15. West, a sophomore from Dothan, Ala., has the third-lowest stroke average on the team (73.3), two top-20 finishes, and five rounds of par or better this season. Humphries, one of two seniors on the squad, posted a team-best 72.7 stroke average in the fall to go along with three top-20’s and six rounds of par or better.
LSU will go with a lineup of West, Humphries, junior Jason Horrell, red shirt freshman Adam Swope, and true freshman Aaron Smith this weekend. Swope, a native of Tampa, Fla., will make his collegiate debut this weekend, having taken a red shirt a year ago. Smith is also a native of Florida, hailing from Longwood, Fla., and played in one tournament in the fall.
“Well we are ready to get back to action again after being off for so long and I think we are all ready,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones. “We are the defending champs of this tournament but only until the tournament starts and then it is all even. We are much more concerned with being the champs in 2003,” said Jones.
The tournament will be held at the University of Florida Golf Course with the first 36 holes of the tournament to be played on Saturday and then the final 18 on Sunday.
2003 SunTrust Gator Invitational Field:
Alabama
UAB
Augusta State
College of Charleston
Florida
Florida State
Georgia Southern
Georgia State
Kentucky
LSU
North Florida
Ohio State
Purdue
South Florida
Vanderbilt