ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — The 26th-ranked LSU men’s golf team shot the second-lowest round of the day, a 2-over par 282, on Sunday to finish eighth at the 2004 Southeastern Conference Championship held at Sea Island Golf Club’s Seaside Course.
The Tigers’ 282 was bested only by Vanderbilt’s 1-over 281 in Sunday’s final round. LSU finished at 35-over 875 for the weekend but ended up just 11 shots behind Vanderbilt, who finished fourth at 24-over 864. Georgia won its first SEC title since 2001 by shooting a 3-over 843 to edge top-ranked and defending champion Florida by one stroke. The Gators were in position to win their second-straight championship but struggled on the final hole and that enabled the third-ranked Bulldogs to win their fourth SEC title in the last seven years.
Auburn shot a 19-over 859 to finish third, Vanderbilt was fourth at 24-over 864, and Kentucky rounded out the top five, shooting a 26-over 866. Georgia freshman Brendon Todd became the second-consecutive freshman to win the SEC individual championship as the Cary, N.C., native shot a 3-under 207 to claim medalist honors. Florida’s Matt Every and Vanderbilt’s Mark Donnell tied for second place at 2-under 208. Georgia won its 25th SEC golf championship, the best total in conference history.
Junior Heath West shot a 5-over 215 to tie for 15th place after firing a 2-under 68 in Sunday’s final round. West recorded his seventh top-20 finish of the season. Senior Garrett Prather shot a 6-over 216 to tie for 20th, his third top-20 finish this season. Prather shot an even-par 70 in the final round.
Junior Jeff Riemann tied for 29th at 10-over 220, Andrew Lanahan shot a 17-over 227 to tie for 48th, and Brandon Aydlett finished 56th after shooting a 22-over 232. Lanahan and Aydlett each responded from difficult starts in the tournament to each shoot 2-over 72s on Sunday.
“We just did not adjust to the course until 21 holes into the tournament and then the last 33 holes we were probably the best team out there,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones. “It takes some time to get used to this golf course and it is a very difficult one,” said Jones.
“Our last round was very solid and that just goes to show you that we can play with anybody, we just need to put three good rounds together,” said Jones. “The last two tournaments our scoring average for the final round in the last two tournaments is 280 so we just have to put it all together,” said Jones.
LSU will now await an NCAA Regional bid, which will be announced early next month. The Tigers expect to be sent to the East Regional held in New Haven, Conn., from May 20-22. The Central Regional will be held in West Lafayette, Ind., with Purdue as the host. The West Regional is in Sunriver, Ore., with the University of Portland as the host.
The Tigers have finished their regular season schedule with a strong resume. LSU owns three tournament victories this season and are currently ranked fourth in the latest Golfweek District rankings. LSU is behind just Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina in the Southeast District. The top eight teams in the district make an NCAA regional. The Tigers made regional appearances in both 2001 and 2002.
TEAM SCORES (Par 840)
1. Georgia 269-291-283 — 843 +3; 2. Florida 283-277-284 — 844 +4; 3. Auburn 281-284-294 — 859 +19; 4. Vanderbilt 295-288-281 — 864 +24; 5. Kentucky 287-293-286 — 866 +26; 6. Tennessee 283-296-289 — 868 +28; 7. South Carolina 294-281-294 — 869 +29; 8. LSU 298-295-282 — 875 +35; 9. Arkansas 300-296-287 — 883 +43; 10. Mississippi State 297-302-288 — 887 +47; 11. Alabama 280-304-305 — 889 +49; 12. Ole Miss 302-294-306 — 902 +62
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS
1. Brendon Todd, Georgia, 66-72-69 — 207 -3; t2. Mark Donnell, Vanderbilt, 70-71-67 — 208 -2; t2. Matt Every, Florida, 72-65-71 — 208 -2; 4. Matt Kohn, Kentucky, 71-73-66 — 210 E; t5. David Denham, Georgia, 66-75-70 — 211 +1; t5. Alex Hamilton, South Carolina, 71-68-72 — 211 +1; t5. Camilo Villegas, Florida, 70-72-69 — 211 +1; t8. Andrew Dahl, Arkansas, 70-72-71 — 213 +3; t8. Kevin Kisner, Georgia, 68-73-72 — 213 +3; t8. Luke List, Vanderbilt, 72-72-69 — 213 +3; t8. Andrew Medley, Auburn, 70-70-73 — 213 +3; t8. Clint Provost, Alabama, 65-73-75 — 213 +3
LSU SCORES
T15. Heath West 73-74-68 — 215 +5
T20. Garrett Prather 73-73-70 — 216 +6
T29. Jeff Riemann 74-71-75 — 220 +10
T48. Andrew Lanahan 78-77-72 — 227 +17
56. Brandon Aydlett 80-80-72 — 232 +22