KINGSTON SPRINGS, Tenn. — The LSU men’s golf team will open its 2003-04 season on Monday in the Mason Rudolph Intercollegiate at the Golf Club of Tennessee in Kingston Springs, Tenn.
The Tigers, led by fifth-year head coach Greg Jones, will play 36 holes on Monday and then the final 18 on Tuesday at the par-71 6,844 yard course against a 17-team field which includes five Southeastern Conference teams. Vanderbilt will host the tournament, looking to defend its title from a year ago.
LSU will feature a new look this season as Jones welcomes seven new players to the team including four transfers. Sophomore Jeremiah Shields, a native of Canada, also joined the squad after transferring from Arkansas State University after his freshman season. Chad Bailey, Ivan Brannan, and Garrett Runion, will all be true freshman this season, and Greg Mason, Jake Shaw, and Andrew Lanahan all transferred from junior college.
The returning class is headlined by senior Garrett Prather and junior Heath West along with juniors Brandon Aydlett, Jason Horrell, and Jeff Riemann and sophomore Aaron Smith. David Pollet and Justin Sevier are two other returning letterwinners. The Tigers lost John Humphries and Tucker Ervin from last season’s team, the two most significant losses, but return a solid group.
Prather, a native of Crowley, La., sat out last season and will serve as the team’s co-captain this season along with Riemann. West, a Dothan, Ala., native is the most experienced player returning based on last year’s statistics. West played in 11 tournaments last season and finished with a 73.3 stroke average. He also had two top-10 finishes and five top-20 finishes. West is a possible All-America candidate this season after being named to the All-SEC team in 2002.
LSU will start the season with a lineup of West, Prather, Aaron Smith, Riemann, and Andrew Lanahan, a native of Jacksonville, Fla. Lanahan attended Midland Junior College last season.
The 2003-04 schedule features trips to the Windon Memorial Classic in Glenview, Ill., on Oct. 6-7, the Gary Koch Intercollegiate on Oct. 20-21 in Tampa, Fla., and the Schenkel/E-Z-Go Invitational March 20-21 in Statesboro, Ga.
The Tigers will host the annual Country Club of Louisiana Intercollegiate on Oct. 27-28 in Baton Rouge and the LSU Spring Invitational from April 2-4 at the University Club. The 2004 SEC Championships will be held in Sea Island, Ga., from April 16-18.
The Tigers will participate in the Baylor Intercollegiate Invitational Sept. 29-30 in Waco, Texas following the trip to Nashville.