Gainesville, Fla. — The LSU men’s golf team will open its spring season at the prestigious SunTrust Gator Invitational on Jan. 31-Feb. 1 at the University of Florida Golf Course.
The Tigers join 14 teams at the 27th-annual event. Highlighting the field is host and No. 1-ranked Florida, as well as familiar collegiate powers such as Georgia Southern and North Florida. Seven teams in the field are currently ranked in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin top 50 rankings. LSU is currently ranked No. 33 in the rankings.
“We are looking to pick up where we left off in the fall even though we have had a very long break,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones. “We are expecting everyone to be ready to go and need to be because this is a great tournament and once again a tremendous field. This is a good test for our team,” said Jones.
The Tigers had a very successful fall campaign, as LSU won two tournament titles and finished no worse than seventh in the three other events. LSU won the Baylor Invitational on Sept. 30 in Waco, Texas by firing a 4-over par 868 to place two strokes ahead of in-state rival Southeastern Louisiana. The Tigers also defended their home turf by winning the 10th-annual Country Club of Louisiana Intercollegiate title on Oct. 28 in Baton Rouge, edging 18th-ranked Arkansas by a single stroke. Jones and his team dedicated the thrilling win to former LSU equipment manager Jeff Boss, who died on Oct. 27 after a 10-month battle with brain cancer.
Junior Heath West headlines LSU’s lineup for the Gator Invitational. West led the Tigers during the fall with a 71.7 stroke average and totaled four top-10 finishes in five tournaments. West placed outside the top 20 only once in the fall, finishing in a tie for 49th place in LSU’s season-opening tournament- the Mason Rudolph Intercollegiate. West, a Second-Team All-SEC selection in 2002, tied for second place at the CCLA Intercollegiate, firing a 5-under 211. Joining west in Florida are senior Garrett Prather, fellow juniors Jeff Riemann and Andrew Lanahan, and true freshman Ivan Brannan, who is making his collegiate debut.
Riemann, a native of Gulfport, Miss., was one of the Tigers’ most consistent golfers in the fall. The junior posted a 73.6 stroke average and had one top-10 finish to go along with two top 20s. Prather played in all five fall tournaments and compiled a 74.0 stroke average with 1 top-20 finish. Lanahan, a Jacksonville, Fla., native saw action in four tournaments and had a top 10 and top 20 finish and earned a 73.4 stroke average. Brannan, a product of Arnold HS in Panama City beach, Fla., will be the second true freshmen to see action for the Tigers this season.
The field will begin play at 8 a.m. on Saturday with the second round getting underway at around 1 p.m. The final 18 holes will be played on Sunday with the teams teeing off at 8 a.m. LSU is paired with College of Charleston and Georgia Southern for the first two rounds.
The Tigers won the Gator Invitational title in 2002. LSU has three wins all-time at the tournament, with the other two victories coming in 1986 and 1988.
2004 SunTrust Gator Invitational field: Alabama, UAB, Baylor, Central Florida, College of Charleston, Florida, Florida State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Kentucky, LSU, North Florida, Ohio State, Purdue, Tennessee