GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The LSU men’s golf team shot a 22-over par 582 on Saturday at the 2003 SunTrust Gator Invitational to stand in sixth place after two rounds at the University of Florida Golf Course in Gainesville.
The Tigers, the defending tournament champions, are 11 strokes behind leader Augusta State and just five shots behind second-place host Florida. Augusta State shot an 11-over 571 Saturday while LSU shot 294-288 for a 582 total. Georgia Southern, Purdue, and Georgia State are currently third through fifth as only one stroke separates each team. Last season LSU edged Purdue, Florida, and UAB by one stroke to win the Gator for the first time since 1988.
Senior John Humphries, who placed in a tie for 24th last season, is tied for third individually at even-par 140 with Georgia State’s Ty Harris. Sophomore Heath West is tied for fifth at 1-over par 141. West placed eighth a year ago at the tournament. Augusta State’s Oliver Wilson is the leading individual at 3-under 137.
True freshman Aaron Smith, a native of Longwood, Fla., is in 32nd place at 9-over 149 in only his second -career tournament. Junior Jason Horrell shot a 12-over 152 and is tied for 52nd place. Red shirt freshman and Tampa native Adam Swope is currently 72nd overall at 20-over 160. Swope is making his LSU debut this weekend.
“We played decent today but we still missed some shots we could have made and made some correctable mistakes,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones. We still can make a run tomorrow so that is what we plan to do.”
The Tigers have not played since finishing in a tie for sixth place at the Tennessee Tournament of Champions on Oct. 21-22, 2002 in Knoxville, Tenn. LSU was scheduled to host the 10th-annual Country Club of Louisiana Intercollegiate on Oct. 28-29 in Baton Rouge but the tournament was postponed due to bad weather and has not yet been re-scheduled. The Tigers will next participate in the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship on Feb. 17-18 in Ponte Vedra, Fla., at the prestigious Sawgrass Country Club.
TEAM SCORES
(Par 280)
1. Augusta State 280-291 — 571 +11; 2. Florida 296-281 — 577 +17; 3. Georgia Southern 288-291 — 579 +19; 4. Purdue 283-297 — 580 +20; 5. Georgia State 304-277 — 581 +21; 6. LSU 294-288 — 582 +22; t7. College of Charleston 293-292 — 585 +25; t7. Kentucky 298-287 — 585 +25; t9. Vanderbilt 291-301 — 592 +32; t9. Florida State 299-293 — 592 +32; 11. UAB 305-288 — 593 +33; 12. Alabama 301-296 — 597 +37; 13. North Florida 299-306 — 605 +45; t14. Ohio State 303-312 — 615 +55; t14. South Florida 315-300 — 615 +55
TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
1. Oliver Wilson, Augusta State, 67-70 — 137 -3; 2. John Holmes, Kentucky, 68-71 — 139 -1; t3. John Humphries, LSU, 70-70 E; t3. Ty Harris, Georgia State, 74-66 — 140 E; t5. Heath west, LSU, 71-70 — 141 +1; t5. Emmett Turner, Augusta State, 69-72 — 141 +1; t5. Brett Stegmaier, Florida, 75-66 — 141 +1; t5. Ari Savolainen (I), Florida, 71-70 — 141 +1
(I)=Individual
LSU SCORES
t3. John Humphries 70-70 — 140 E
t5. Heath West 71-70 — 141 +1
t32. Aaron Smith 76-73 — 149 +9
t52. Jason Horrell 77-75 — 152 +12
72. Adam Swope 85-75 — 160 +20