AWENDAW, S.C. — The LSU men’s golf team earned its best finish of the season Tuesday by finishing in fifth place in the Hootie at Bull’s Bay Intercollegiate at Bull’s Bay Golf Club with a three-round total of 24-over par 876.
The Tigers recorded the best team score of the second round with a 3-over 287 to move into a tie for fourth place after play was suspended Monday because of darkness. LSU shot a 6-over 290 in the final round to finish the tournament in fifth.
“We came out this morning and finished the second round pretty good,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones. “We played pretty solid all day and put up a nice finish, which I know we’re capable of.”
LSU earned victories over five teams currently ranked in the latest Golfweek top 30, including No. 2 Georgia Tech, No. 9 Wake Forest, No. 17 South Carolina, No. 22 Alabama and No. 26 Clemson.
“We beat Georgia Tech, who is No. 2 in the country, and Kentucky won the tournament. We’ve beaten them a couple of times already this year,” Jones said. “We picked up some really good wins against some highly rated teams, which will elevate our ranking and also give our guys confidence to know that they can play with anybody in the country.
“This was one of the toughest fields that we have seen this year. It was a good step in the right direction for this team and for this program.”
Three Tigers finished the tournament in the top 15 for the first time this season. Senior Heath West earned his third top-10 finish by placing ninth with a 4-over 217, and sophomore Chris Wells earned his fifth top-10 finish by tying for 10th with a 5-over 218.
Freshman Beck Troutman recorded the best finish of his young career by tying for 15th with a 6-over 219, including a career best 2-under 69 in the second round.
“They are starting to show a little more consistency for this team,” Jones said. “Heath would probably tell you that he should have done a little better, but he played well. Beck Troutman showed what kind of quality player he is as a freshman, and Chris Wells is feeling out the competition to know what it takes to play at this level.”
The 23rd-ranked Kentucky Wildcats won the tournament by defeating No. 15 Augusta State in a playoff. The two teams recorded a three-round total of 14-over 866, finishing four strokes ahead of the seventh-ranked Auburn Tigers.
Augusta State’s Scott Jamieson won medalist honors by finishing five strokes ahead of Webb Simpson of Wake Forest with an 8-under 205.
The Tigers return to action Friday when they welcome 16 teams to the University Club to compete in the fifth-annual LSU Spring Invitational. LSU has captured the team championship in this event in each year of the tournament’s existence.
“It’s good to play this soon while competition is fresh on the mind,” Jones said. “We’re starting to gain some confidence, and it’s good for us to play another event before taking the week off before the SEC Championships.”
HOOTIE AT BULL’S BAY INTERCOLLEGIATE — FINAL RESULTS
TEAM RESULTS (Par 852)
t1. Kentucky 290-287-289 — 866 +14; t1. Augusta State 276-304-286 — 866 +14; 3. Auburn 288-298-284 — 870 +18; 4. Georgia 296-294-283 — 873 +21; 5. LSU 299-287-290 — 876 +24; 6. Georgia Tech 290-297-293 — 880 +28; 7. South Carolina 288-296-297 — 881 +29; 8. Wake Forest 294-303-289 — 886 +34; 9. N.C. State 291-300-301 — 892 +40; 10. Alabama 299-292-302 — 893 +45; 11. Florida State 299-288-308 — 895 +47; 12. Clemson 303-302-291 — 896 +48; t13. Vanderbilt 300-297-306 — 903 +51; t13. North Carolina 300-307-296 — 903 +51; 15. College of Charleston 303-303-298 — 904 +52
TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS (Par 213)
1. Scott Jamieson, Augusta State, 66-71-68 — 205 -8; 2. Webb Simpson, Wake Forest, 71-68-71 — 210 -3; t3. John Holmes, Kentucky, 71-70-71 — 212 -1; t3. Chan Song, Georgia Tech, 66-73-73 — 212 -1; 5. Matt Kohn, Kentucky, 69-72-74 — 215 +2
LSU SCORES
9. Heath West 70-72-75 — 217 +4
t10. Chris Wells 75-74-69 — 218 +5
t15. Beck Troutman 77-69-73 — 219 +6
t45. Brandon Aydlett 81-72-73 — 226 +13
t61. Jeff Riemann 77-76-79 — 232 +19