BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s golf team will open its 2004-05 season Saturday in the seventh-annual Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate hosted by East Tennessee State at the Ridges Golf and Country Club in Johnson City, Tenn.
The Tigers, led by sixth-year head coach Greg Jones, will play 36 holes Saturday and the final 18 Sunday at the par-72 course against a 15-team field that includes Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee from the Southeastern Conference.
“It’s a good chance for us to help ourselves early in the year,” said Jones. “We’ll figure out how we stand by seeing the other teams and what they have, what kind of firepower they have.”
LSU will start the season with a lineup of seniors Brandon Aydlett, Jeff Riemann and Heath West, and sophomores Garrett Runion and Chris Wells. Wells is a newcomer to the Tiger squad after transferring to LSU from the University of the Pacific.
“Most of their playing has been competitive against each other,” said Jones. “We’ve played really sound golf here at home, and I’m just looking to see how we do in a tournament environment. This is the first time in my career where the No. 5 player has a chance to beat our No. 1 player on any given day.”
The 2004-05 schedule feature trips to the Gary Koch Invitational in Tampa, Fla., Oct. 11-12, the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship Feb. 20-22 in Ponte Vedra, Fla., and the Schenkel/E-Z-Go Invitational in Statesboro, Ga., March 19-20.
The Tigers will host the inaugural University Club Intercollegiate Oct. 25-26 in Baton Rouge and will return to the University Club to host the fifth-annual LSU Spring Invitational April 1-3. The 2005 SEC Championships will be held in Sea Island, Ga., April 15-17.
LSU will return to the state of Tennessee to compete in its second tournament, the Mason Rudolph Intercollegiate, in Nashville Sept. 27-28.