PONTE VEDRA, Fla. — The LSU men’s golf team will participate in its second-straight tournament in Florida this week, as the Tigers will battle several of the nation’s top teams at the prestigious Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship Monday and Tuesday in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
The 12th-annual event, played at the famous Sawgrass Country Club, will be hosted by North Florida. and features one of the strongest fields in all of collegiate golf this season. Six teams currently ranked in the country’s top 10 according to the Feb. 9 GOLFWEEK/SAGARIN rankings are part of this year’s field.
Highlighting the 17-team field is No. 1-ranked Clemson, fourth-ranked Florida, as well as Wake Forest (No. 5), North Carolina (No. 6), and seventh-ranked Augusta State. Other ranked teams in the field include No. 10 Duke, 11th-ranked Texas, No. 14 Georgia, and No. 19 Tennessee. The rest of the schools competing are Florida State, South Carolina, North Carolina State, North Florida, and Oklahoma State.
Florida is the four-time defending champion of the tournament, defeating Tennessee by two strokes a year ago for the title. LSU placed seventh at last season’s Mercedes Championship, shooting a 28-over par 892. The Tigers are coming off a 12th-place finish out of 15 teams at the Suntrust Gator Invitational last week in Gainesville, Fla. LSU did have two golfers finish in the top 20 at the tournament.
Once again, LSU will use a different lineup for a tournament. Regulars John Humphries and Heath West will be joined by sophomore Tucker Ervin and a pair of true freshmen, Aaron Smith and David Aitchison. It is LSU’s sixth different lineup in six tournaments this season. Smith, a Longwood, Fla., native, and Aitchison, a native of Scotland, will each be appearing in their third-career tournament. Ervin will play in his second while Humphries and West will play in their sixth and fifth each.
“This is one of the most competitive tournaments each year and by far has one of the strongest fields in college golf this season,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones. “We need to have every one of our guy’s shoot some low numbers this week to be successful against all these good teams.”
Following the trip to Florida the Tigers will return to Baton Rouge to host the 3rd-annual LSU Spring Invitational Feb. 18 to March 2 at the University Club.