BATON ROUGE — The 28th-ranked LSU men’s golf team shot an even-par 288 on day one of the fourth-annual LSU Spring Invitational to finish the day in a tie for sixth place while Middle Tennessee State shot a tournament-record 14-under par 274 to lead the field heading into Saturday’s second round at the University Club.
The Tigers, the three-time defending champions of the event, are tied with in-state rival Tulane, 14 shots behind the leading Blue Raiders from MTSU. Furman fired a 10-under 278, which at the time was a new 18-hole record, until Middle Tennessee’s score became official. Furman is in second place and just four shots behind the leaders. UNC-Charlotte and South Alabama are in a tie for third place at 2-under 286 while Jacksonville State is alone in fifth at 1-under 287.
Middle Tennessee’s Blake Bivens and Furman’s T.J. Blanford each fired a 6-under par 66 on Friday to lead all individuals. Jacksonville State’s Nick Mackay and South Alabama’s Josh Lampley shot a 5-under 67 to tie for third while USA’s Gareth Maybin, Middle Tennessee’s Josh Nelms and LSU individual Greg Mason are tied for fifth at 4-under 68. Mason, seeing his first action since the Country Club of Louisiana Intercollegiate back in October, posted a career-high round with his 68.
“You look at the scores and you have to say that a lot of the teams played pretty well today, but a couple of the teams simply played lights out,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones. “The greens were perfect but actually they were faster than we have ever played them and we are going to have to adjust to that tomorrow,” said Jones.
“This round today really is a tribute to just how good college golf really is and how competitive these teams are,” said Jones. “We have a good field here and I expect us to play well tomorrow.”
Fellow individual David Pollet shot a 2-under 70 and is is a six-way tie for 14th place. Tiger junior Heath West fired a 1-under 71 and is tied for 20th. West leads LSU this season with a 73.0 stroke average and four top-10 finishes. West’s teammate Jeff Riemann also shot a 71 and is tied for 20th, while juniors Jason Horrell and Andrew Lanahan each shot even-par 72 to tie for 31st place. Horrell was one of five LSU golfers competing as an individual. The individuals were 4-under par on Friday. Senior Garrett Prather and junior Brandon Aydlett are tied for 42nd place at 2-over par 74.
“Our individuals shot 4-under par today after being 7-under at the turn, so that is very good and it shows how much quality depth we have on this team,” said Jones. “I am really impressed with how those guys played today.”
LSU is paired with Jacksonville State and South Alabama and will tee off on Saturday beginning at 8:40 a.m. on the front nine. The round begins with Arkansas- Little Rock, Louisiana-Lafayette, and Tulane teeing off on hole No. 1 at 8 a.m.
TEAM SCORES (Par 288)
1. Middle Tennessee State 274 -14; 2. Furman 278 -10; t3. UNC-Charlotte 286 -2; t3. South Alabama 286 -2; 5. Jacksonville State 287 -1; t6. LSU 288 E; t6. Tulane 288 E; t8. Arkansas-Little Rock 290 +2; t8. Louisiana-Lafayette 290 +2; t10. Xavier 292 +4; t10. Memphis 292 +4; t10. Central Florida 292 +4; 13. South Florida 293 +5; 14. Maryland 295 +7; 15. Arkansas State 297 +9; 16. Southern Mississippi 302 +14; 17. Mississippi State 305 +17
TOP 25 INDIVIDUALS (Par 72)
T1. Blake Bivens, Middle Tennessee, 66 -6; t1. T.J. Blandford, Furman, 66 -6; t3. Nick Mackay, Jacksonville State, 67 -5; t3. Josh Lampley, South Alabama, 67 -5; t5. Gareth Maybin, South Alabama, 68 -4; t5. Josh Nelms, Middle Tennessee, 68 -4; t5. Greg Mason (I) 68 -4; t8. Matt Davidson, Furman, 69 -3; t8. Michael Thompson, Tulane, 69 -3; t8. Luke Bakke, Arkansas-Little Rock, 69 -3; t8. Scott McNeil, UNC-Charlotte, 69 -3; t8. Chris Webb, Middle Tennessee, 69 -3; t8. Brett Ashmore, Louisiana-Lafayette, 69 -3; t14. Chris Wheeler, Tulane, 70 -2; t14. Miles Maillet, Xavier, 70 -2; t14. Scott Crisco, Arkansas State, 70 -2; t14. Alan Weant, Memphis, 70 -2; t14. Wixson Huffstetler, Arkansas State, 70 -2; t20. Heath West, LSU, 71 -1; t20. Charlie Gibson, Middle Tennessee, 71 -1; t20. Matt Mincer, UNC-Charlotte, 71 -1; t20. Matias Anselmo, Jacksonville State, 71 -1; t20. Neal Grusczynski, Xavier, 71 -1; t20. Craig Trahan, Louisiana-Lafayette, 71 -1; t20. Rob Langley, 71 -1; t20. Jeff Riemann, 71 -1; t20. Sonny Nimkhum, Central Florida, 71 -1; t20. John Arnette, UNC-Charlotte, 71 -1; t20. Tyler Whitman, Maryland, 71 -1
LSU SCORES (I)= Competed as an Individual
T20. Heath West 71 -1
T20. Jeff Riemann 71 -1
T31. Andrew Lanahan 72 E
T42. Garrett Prather 74 +2
T42. Brandon Aydlett 74 +2
T5. Greg Mason (I) 68 -4
T14. David Pollet 70 -2
T31. Jason Horrell 72 E
T42. Garrett Runion 74 +2
T82. Aaron Smith 79 +7
TULANE SCORES
T8. Michael Thompson 69 -3
T14. Chris Wheeler 70 -2
T42. Bill Roach Jr. 74 +2
T55. Bill Gutknecht 75 +3
T82. Mark Sullivan 79 +7