ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — The 26th-ranked LSU men’s golf team shot an 18-over par 298 in the first round of the 2004 Southeastern Conference Championships on Friday at Sea Island Golf Club’s Seaside Course to finish the day in 10th place.
Georgia, the 2001 SEC champion, leads the 12-team field after 18 holes of play as the No. 4-ranked Bulldogs fired an 11-under 269 on Friday. Alabama fired a round of even-par 280 to finish the day in second place, 11 shots behind leader Georgia. Auburn is in third place at 1-over 281, while the nation’s top-ranked team, Florida, is tied with Tennessee for fourth at 3-over 283. Five of the 12 teams are currently ranked in the top 25 of the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.
Alabama’s Clint Provost is the leading individual after 18 holes as he fired a 5-under par 65 on Friday. David Denham and Brendon Todd of Georgia are tied for second at 4-under 66 and three players are tied for fourth at 2-under 68. Three golfers are tied for seventh place while there is currently an eight-way tie for 10th place at even-par 70.
Senior Garrett Prather and junior Heath West led the Tigers on Friday as the two each shot 3-over par 73s to tie for 29th place. Junior Jeff Riemann carded a 4-over 74 to tie for 35th, while Andrew Lanahan, making his SEC Championship debut, shot an 8-over 78 and is tied for 48th place. Brandon Aydlett shot a 10-over 80 and is tied for 57th.
“Well, today’s score is not as bad as it looks, despite the fact that we are 18-over par,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones. “Today was only one round and we still have two rounds left and I liken this situation to a long race and this was only a pit stop- there are a lot of holes left,” said Jones.
“On this course, there is a fine line between a good shot and a bad shot, and the good shots get rewarded and the bad ones get penalized,” said Jones. “We did not put well and are really a heartbeat away from being just a few over par.”
The tournament continues on Saturday with round-two action beginning at 8 a.m. LSU is paired with Arkansas and Ole Miss for the second round.
TEAM SCORES (Par 280)
1. Georgia 269 -11; 2. Alabama 280 E; 3. Auburn 281 +1; t4. Florida 283 +3; t4. Tennessee 283 +3; 6. Kentucky 287 +7; 7. South Carolina 294 +14; 8. Vanderbilt 295 +15; 9. Mississippi State 297 +17; 10. LSU 298 +18; 11. Arkansas 300 +20; 12. Ole Miss 302 +22
TOP 10 INIDIVIDUALS (Par 70)
1. Clint Provost, Alabama, 65 -5; 2. Brendon Todd, Georgia, 66 -6; t2. David Denham, Georgia 66 -6; t4. John-Scott Rattan, Tennessee, 68 -2; t4. Will Claxton, Auburn, 68 -2; t4. Kevin Kisner, Georgia, 68 -2; t7. Duke Butler, Florida, 69 -1; t7. Richard Scott, Georgia, 69 -1; t7. Stuart Moore, Auburn, 69 -1; t10. Ross Cox, Tennessee, 70 E; t10. Lance Walker, Alabama, 70 E; t10. Mark Donnell, Vanderbilt, 70 E; Chris Kirk, Georgia, 70 E; t10. Andrew Medley, Auburn, 70 E; t10. Camilo Villegas, Florida, 70 E; t10. Andrew Dahl, Arkansas, 70 E; t10. John Holmes, Kentucky, 70 E
LSU SCORES
T29 Garrett Prather 73
T29 Heath West 73
T35 Jeff Riemann 74
T48 Andrew Lanahan 78
T57 Brandon Aydlett 8