TUNICA, Miss. — The LSU men’s golf team will compete in its final tournament of the fall season when it travels to Tunica, Miss., on Monday to participate in the Tunica National Intercollegiate hosted by Ole Miss at Tunica National Golf Club. The course will play to a par 72 and 7,204 yards for the 54-hole championship.
The tournament, which was to be played at the University Club in Baton Rouge as the University Club Intercollegiate, was moved due to the lack of available hotel rooms in the Baton Rouge area in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
The Tigers are looking for their second tournament victory of the fall season and will do so against a 14-team field that includes tournament host Ole Miss, UAB, College of Charleston, Colorado, Kent State, Lamar, McNeese State, Mississippi State, UNC-Greensboro, North Florida, South Alabama, SMU and Tulane.
“We’re looking forward to competing in this event,” said LSU head coach Chuck Winstead. “The guys have had a good fall season overall, and they’ve competed well and continue to improve with each tournament. Tunica National is pretty similar to the University Club in the way we will play the course, so that can be an advantage for us.”
Winstead will play with a lineup of junior Chris Wells, sophomores Brian Noonan, Brent Struthers and Beck Troutman, and freshman Jarrod Barsamian. Senior Aaron Smith will compete as an individual. Wells and Troutman are making their fifth tournament appearance of the season, while Noonan, Struthers and Barsamian are making their fourth.
Wells and Troutman have been LSU’s most consistent performers this season as they enter the tournament tied for the team lead with a 72.67 stroke average in 12 rounds. Struthers has an average of 73.78 in nine rounds, while Barsamian and Noonan have each played nine rounds with an average of 74.11 and 74.44, respectively.
The first and second rounds of the tournament will be played Monday with the Tigers teeing off with Kent State and Ole Miss at 8 a.m. A final round will be played Tuesday to decide the championship.