BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s golf team fired a 1-over par 289 in the first round of the third-annual LSU Spring Invitational on Friday at the University Club in Baton Rouge.
The Tigers are currently tied with Lamar at 1-over, just one stroke ahead of third-place Arkansas State, who is 2-over par 290. College of Charleston is in fourth after shooting a 3-over 291, and Jacksonville State and South Alabama are tied for fifth place at 4-over 292. LSU is looking to win the Spring Invitational title for the third year in a row. Last season’s tournament was recuced to just ine round due to poor weather, but the Tigers still managed to shoot a 9-under 279 in the lone round to win. LSU won the inaugural event in 2001 with a 9-over 873 score.
LSU’s six individual players will tee off at 7:52 a.m. Saturday to begin second-round action. Jeff Riemann, Neil Self, and Jason Horrell will tee off on the front nine while Adam Swope, Justin Sevier, and David Aitchison will play the back nine. The Tigers’ lineup of John Humphries, Heath West, David Pollet, Aaron Smith, and Tucker Ervin is paired with Lamar and Arkansas State for Saturday’s round. That threesome will tee off beginning at 9:20 a.m. on hole No.1.
Humphries had another strong day on the course for LSU as the senior shot a 1-under 71 to end the tournament’s initial day in a tie for eighth place. Ervin and Pollet each shot even-par 72 and are each tied for 13th place. Horrell shot a 1-over 73 to tie for 20th place. West is tied for 30th place at 2-over par 74. Self is tied for 42nd place at 3-over 75. Smith is tied for 56th place at 4-over 76, Riemann ended the day tied for 73rd place and shot a 6-over par 78. Aitchison and Sevier are tied for 81st place and Swope placed in a tie for 88th place at 9-over 81.
Sevier and Pollet each made their collegiate debut on Friday, with Pollet, a Baton Rouge native, earning praise from LSU head coach Greg Jones on his first-career start.
“I am very proud of David Pollet, he is a hometown guy and he really played well today in his debut,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones. “John Humphries had another solid performance, and we had a good team score so we feel good going into Saturday.”
Arkansas State’s Wixson Huffstetler is the leading individual after a round, firing a 6-under par 66 to keep ASU in contention going into round two, as the best score shot by one of his teammate’s was a 73. The Tigers are in search of their first tournament victory of the season.
The tournament will be completed on Sunday with third-round action beginning at 7:52 a.m.
Agate to follow
LSU SPRING INVITATIONAL
Feb. 28-March 2, 2003
UNIVERSITY CLUB
BATON ROUGE, La.
TEAM SCORES
t1. LSU 289 +1; t1. Lamar 289 +1; 3. Arkansas State 290 +2; 4. College of Charleston 291 +3; t5. Jacksonville State 292 +4; t5. South Alabama 292 +4; t7. South Florida 295 +7; t7. Furman 295 +7; t7. Middle Tennessee State 295 +7; t10. Mississippi State 296 +8; t10. Memphis 296 +8; 12. Central Florida 297 +9; t13. Arkansas-Little Rock 301 +13; t13. Louisiana-Lafayette 301 +13; t13. Tulane 301 +13; t13. Georgia Southern 301 +13; t13. Rhode Island 301 +13; 18. Maryland 303 +15
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS
1. Wixson Huffstetler, Arkansas State, 66 -6; t2. Ryan Gildersleeve, South Alabama, 68 -4; t2. Shawn Stefani, Lamar, 68 -4; t4. Noble Judy, Furman, 70 -2; t4. Gareth Maybin, South Alabama, 70 -2; t4. Bruce McDonald, College of Charleston, 70 -2; t4. Kyle Bradley, College of Charleston, 70 -2; t8. John Humphries, LSU, 71 -1; t8. Patrick Williams, Middle Tennessee State, 71 -1; t8. Aron Price, 71 -1; t8. Brad Quiri, South Florida, 71 -1; t8. Joe Deraney, Mississippi State, 71 -1
LSU SCORES
(I)= Individual player
t8. John Humphries 71 -1
t13. Tucker Ervin 72 E
t13. David Pollet 72 E
t20. Jason Horrell 73 +1 (I)
t30. Heath West 74 +2
t42. Neil Self 75 +3 (I)
t56. Aaron Smith 76 +4
t73. Jeff Riemann 78 +6 (I)
t81. David Aitchison 80 +8 (I)
t81. Justin Sevier 80 +8 (I)
t88. Adam Swope 81 +9 (I)