PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — The LSU men’s golf team, currently ranked 35th in the nation in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, will participate in the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship Feb. 8-10 at Sawgrass Country Club.
“This is really a tremendous tournament and we are honored to play in this event with some of the best teams in the entire country,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones. “It is a great opportunity for our golf team to go out there and show what we are made of, and hopefully we will play well and be able to do that.”
The Tigers, coming off of a ninth-place finish at the SunTrust Gator Invitational last weekend in Gainesville, Fla., will compete in what is widely regarded as one of the country’s finest collegiate tournaments against a tremendous field. The 18-team field includes the top three teams in the nation (No. 1 Florida, No. 2 Clemson, No. 3 Georgia) in the Feb. 2 Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, as well as four other teams ranked in the top 15. Fellow Southeastern Conference squads Tennessee, Auburn, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt are also included in the field. North Florida will host the event.
LSU, already winners of two tournaments this season, will go with a lineup of senior Garrett Prather, and juniors Heath West, Jeff Riemann, Andrew Lanahan, and Jake Shaw. Prather, who tied for 13th at the Gator Invitational last weekend, and West are each participating in their seventh tournament of the season. West leads the team with a 72.2 stroke average and four top-10 finishes. Prather has recorded two top-20 finishes as well as a top 10 and owns a 73.7 scoring average.
Riemann, also making his seventh appearance this season, has a 73.6 stroke average along with one top-10 finish. Lanahan, who tied for 20th place at the Gator, will play in his sixth tournament. He has a 73.4 stroke average and one top-10 finish to go with two top 20s.
The Tigers placed in a tie for 12th in last season’s tournament, while Augusta State took home the title, snapping Florida’s streak of four-straight victories in the tournament. LSU is paired with familiar faces in Auburn and Tennessee, and will tee off on the No. 1 tee at 8 a.m. on Sunday. The tournament will feature 18 holes of play on each of the three days of action at the par-72, 6,955-yard course. Sawgrass Country Club is the former home to the Players Championship.
LSU will have a lengthy break from action before participating in the Cajun Classic March 8-9 at Oakborne Country Club in Lafayette, La.
2004 Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship
Feb. 8-10
Sawgrass CC
Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Field: (Current ranking in parentheses)
Auburn, Augusta State (8), Clemson (2), Duke (16), Florida (1), Florida State, Georgia (3), Kentucky (24), LSU (35), North Carolina (10), North Carolina State, North Florida, Northwestern (22), Oklahoma State (13), South Carolina (28), Tennessee (31), Vanderbilt (36).