LSU Gold

Men's Golf Misses NCAA Berth by One Stroke

by LSUsports.net (@LSUsports)
+0
Men's Golf Misses NCAA Berth by One Stroke

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The 27th-ranked LSU men’s golf team missed out on a chance to qualify for the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships by just one stroke on Saturday, as the Tigers finished in a tie for 12th place at the 2004 NCAA East Regional at the Course at Yale.

LSU was attempting to make the NCAA’s for the first time since 1997 as the Tigers rallied from 10 shots out of 10th place after Thursday’s first round and eight strokes entering the final round. The top 10 teams in the 27-team field made the NCAA championships. The top 10 from the Central and West regions also qualified for the NCAA’s, which will be held June 1-4 in Hot Springs, Va.

North Carolina edged in-state rival North Carolina State in a playoff to claim the last spot. LSU, playing in its first regional since 2002, finished at 43-over par 883, to tie with Wake Forest and Duke.

Second-ranked and defending national champion Clemson fired a 16-over par 856 to win the regional title, finishing six shots ahead of second-place Penn State. Third-ranked Georgia and Georgia Tech each shot a 24-over 864 to tie for third place. Florida finished fifth at 26-over 866.

Wake Forest’s Bill Haas fired a 3-under par 207 to edge Rhode Island’s Kenneth Fahey and Florida’s Camilo Villegas by a shot to claim the individual championship. Five golfers tied for fourth place at 1-over par 211.

Senior Garrett Prather led the way for the Tigers on Saturday as he fired a 2-under par 68 to finish with a 10-over 220 total to tie for 41st place. Junior Andrew Lanahan shot a final-round 1-over 71 to finish at 11-over 221 to tie for 50th place.

Jeff Riemann tied for 54th place, shooting a 12-over 222. Junior Heath West posted a final-round 5-over 75 to finish tied for 66th place at 14-over 224. True freshman Garrett Runion shot a 16-over 226 to tie for 74th place.

The Tigers. 7-over 287 tied for the fourth-best round shot all day.

“Well, about all I have to say is that we are just a team that missed going to the NCAA Championships by one shot, and it is tough because every one of our guys can easily find one shot this weekend that they would want back,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones.

“I am real proud of the way they fought, especially Garrett (Prather) and Andrew (Lanahan), because those guys really awesome today, and that unfortunately was Garrett’s final collegiate round.

“We played the last hole 3-over par today, but we sure came back and got very close in what was a stacked region,” said Jones.

LSU closes the 2003-04 season with their highest regional finish in the Jones era. The Tigers tied for 19th place in the 2001 East Regional and finished 16th in the 2002 Central Regional in Little Rock, Ark. The Tigers also won three tournaments this season.

TEAM SCORES (Par 840)
1. Clemson 288-291-277 — 856 +16; 2. Penn State 290-285-287 — 862 +22; t3. Georgia 287-293-284 — 864 +24; t3. Georgia Tech 291-288-285 — 864 +24; 5. Florida 286-290-290 — 866 +26; 6. Auburn 294-286-287 — 867 +27; 7. Georgia State 286-300-283 — 871 +31; 8. Rhode Island 292-289-296 — 877 +37; 9. Vanderbilt 299-291-290 — 880 +40; **t10. North Carolina 294-283-305 — 882 +42; t10. North Carolina State 299-290-293 — 882 +42; t12. LSU 304-292-287 — 883 +43; t12. Wake Forest 296-288-299 — 883 +43; t12. Duke 294-295-294 — 883 +43; 15. Georgia Southern 302-292-291 — 885 +45; 16. Jacksonville State 306-282-299 — 887 +47; 17. South Carolina 299-293-297 — 889 +49; 18. Tennessee 297-292-302. 891 +51; 19. Augusta State 304-292-301 — 897 +57; 20. Maryland 306-298-301.
905 +65; 21. UAB 294-303-313 — 910 +70; 22. Georgetown 304-307-303 — 914 +74; t23. Army 310-304-310 — 924 +84; t23. Binhamton 312-297-315 — 924 +84; 25. Towson 310-300-315 — 925 +85; 26. Yale 311-302-315 — 928 +88; 27. Long Island-Brooklyn 321-313-334 — 968 +128

TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 210)
1. Bill Haas, Wake Forest, 67-70-70 — 207 -3; t2. Kenneth Fahey, Rhode Island, 67-72-69 — 208 -2; t2. Camilo Villegas, Florida, 68-70-70 — 208 -2; t4. Brent Delahoussaye, Clemson, 70-72-69 — 211 +1; t4. Jonathan Dismuke, Auburn, 72-69-70 — 211 +1; t4. Stuart Moore, Auburn, 70-71-70 — 211 +1; t4. Greg Pieczynski, Penn State, 71-71-69 — 211 +1; t4. Richard Scott, Georgia, 69-72-70 — 211 +1; t9. Roberto Castro, Georgia Tech, 74-68-70 — 212 +2; t9. Luke List, Vanderbilt, 73-69-70 — 212 +2; t9. Aron Price, Georgia Southern, 74-68-70 — 212 +2

LSU SCORES
T41. Garrett Prather 75-77-68 — 220 +10
T50. Andrew Lanahan 77-73-71 — 221 +11
T54. Jeff Riemann 78-71-73 — 222 +12
T66. Heath West 74-75-75 — 224 +14
T74. Garrett Runion 78-73-75 — 226 +16