STATESBORO, Ga. — The LSU men’s golf team shot a final-round 1-under par 287 on Sunday to finish 12th at the 2003 Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational at Forest Heights Country Club in Statesboro, Ga.
The Tigers shot their second-lowest round of the season on Sunday, led by senior John Humphries’ 4-under par 68. LSU shot a 6-under 288 earlier this month at the Louisiana Classics Intercollegiate in Lafayette, La. LSU finished at 16-over par 880. Humphries tied for sixth place at 5-under 211. Humphries recorded his fourth top-10 finish and fourth in the last five tournaments.
Wake Forest, the sixth-ranked team in the country, won the title by overcoming a two-stroke deficit to No. 1-ranked Clemson entering the final round. The Demon Deacons finished three strokes ahead of Clemson at 20-under par 844. The Deacons’ Brent Wanner won the individual title by shooting a 9-under par 207. Clemson finished second at 17-under 847, No. 18 Georgia placed third at 10-under 854, ninth-ranked Florida finished fourth at 6-under 858, and No. 14 Auburn rounded out the top five at 4-under par 860. The tournament featured one of the strongest fields in all of collegiate golf this season, as ten teams currently ranked in Golfweek’s top 25 poll participated.
Sophomore Heath West finished in a tie for 26th place at 1-over par 217. The Alabama native shot a final-round even-par 72. Fellow sophomore Brandon Aydlett finished in a tie for 58th at 9-over par 225 after shooting a career-low even-par 72 on Sunday. Freshman Aaron Smith shot a 3-over 75 on Sunday and finished at 13-over 229. Freshman David Aitchison finished at 14-over 230 in a tie for 67th place.
“We played alright today with three guys shooting par or better, but we still need our 3-5 guys to shoot some better numbers,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones. “This was a very tough field here this weekend, especially when you consider we finish only three strokes behind Augusta State, who is ranked fourth in the country,” Jones said.
Next up for LSU is the 2003 Southeastern Conference Championships April 25-27 in Sea Island, Ga.
2003 Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational
March 22-23, 2003
Statesboro, Ga.
Forest Heights Country Club
TEAM SCORES (Par 864)
1. Wake Forest 285-284-275 — 844 -20; 2. Clemson 281-286-280 — 847 -17; 3. Georgia 289-287-278 — 854 -10; 4. Florida 287-288-283 — 858 -6; 5. Auburn 286-285-289 — 860 -4; 6. North Carolina State 288-287-286 — 861 -3; 7. South Carolina 293-287-289 — 869 +5; 8. North Carolina 293-288-291 — 872 +8; 9. East Tennessee State 291-302-280 — 873 +9; 10. Augusta State 290-296-291 — 877 +13; 11. Georgia Southern 299-292-288 — 879 +15; 12. LSU 296-297-287 — 880 +16; 13. Tennessee 290-296-297 — 883 +19; 14. Duke 293-297-297 — 887 +23; 15. Ohio State 302-305-292 — 899 +35
TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS (Par 216)
1. Brent Wanner, Wake Forest, 75-67-65 — 207 -9; t2. Jack Ferguson, Clemson, 72-67-71 — 210 -6; t2. Bill Haas, Wake Forest, 71-70-69 — 210 -6; t2. Kevin Kisner, Georgia, 69-74-67 — 210 -6; t2. D.J. Trahan, Clemson, 70-72-68 — 210 -6
LSU SCORES
t6. John Humphries 71-72-68 — 211 -5
t26. Heath West 75-70-72 — 217 +1
t58. Brandon Aydlett 75-78-72 — 225 +9
t65. Aaron Smith 75-79-75 — 229 +13
t67. David Aitchison 75-77-78 — 230 +14