STATESBORO, Ga. — Senior Andrew Lanahan fired his third consecutive round of 1-over par 73 and sophomore Brian Noonan matched his season low with an even-par 72 to lead the LSU men’s golf team in Sunday’s final round of the Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational at Forest Heights Country Club.
The Tigers posted a team total of 12-over 300 on the day to finish the team competition in 12th place overall with a three-round total of 23-over 887.
Lanahan earned his third straight top-20 finish of the spring season by tying for 19th in the individual competition with a 3-over 219, just one shot ahead of junior Chris Wells who finished in a 25th-place tie. Sophomore Beck Troutman finished the tournament in a tie for 44th, while Noonan finished tied for 55th and fellow sophomore Brent Struthers finished 72nd.
Second round leader North Carolina followed its tournament best 10-under 278 in the second round with an even-par 288 in the final round to win by two shots over third-ranked Florida with a three-day total of 7-under 857. Matt Harmon of Michigan State also held on to his second round lead and finished with a 9-under 207 to win by two shots over North Carolina’s Robert Riesen.
The Tigers have just two tournaments remaining in the regular season as they return to action March 27 in the second annual Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate at Bulls Bay Golf Club in Awendaw, S.C. LSU earned a fifth-place finish against a field that featured nine teams ranked in the Golfweek Top 30 in the inaugural event last spring.
“We’ll continue to work hard to help this team reach its full potential,” said LSU head coach Chuck Winstead. “Relative to this tournament, we certainly needed more production from the top of the lineup. Our guys would be the first to admit they can do better.
“However, everyone who plays the game of golf has off weeks, and the challenge for our guys is to put this event behind them and continue to work hard each day to improve. I know they look forward to that challenge.”
SCHENKEL E-Z-GO INVITATIONAL — FINAL ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 864)
1. North Carolina 291-278-288 — 857 -7; 2. Florida 294-284-281 — 859 -5; 3. Kentucky 285-288-292 — 865 +1; 4. Auburn 285-291-295 — 871 +7; 5. Alabama 298-285-292 — 875 +11; t6. Minnesota 295-290-291 — 876 +12; t6. N.C. State 295-284-297 — 876 +12; 9. Tennessee 297-279-301 — 877 +13; 10. Augusta State 300-293-287 — 880 +16; 11. South Carolina 300-283-300 — 883 +19; 12. LSU 294-293-300 — 887 +23; t13. Ohio State 302-285-303 — 890 +26; t13. Georgia Southern 299-288-303 — 890 +26; 15. Toledo 306-298-311 — 915 +51
TOP 10 INIDVIDUALS (Par 216)
1. Matt Harmon, Michigan State, 68-69-70 — 207 -9; 2. Robert Riesen, North Carolina, 70-71-68 — 209 -7; t3. Brad Doster, Kentucky, 69-70-72 — 211 -5; t3. Stephen Lewton, N.C. State, 71-68-72 — 211 -5; t3. Major Manning, Augusta State, 73-70-68 — 211 -5; t6. Matt Every, Florida, 70-71-72 — 213 -3; t6. Martin Ureta, North Carolina, 72-69-72 — 213 -3; 8. Mark Harrell, Alabama, 69-72-73 — 214 -2; 9. Ted Smith, North Carolina, 76-68-71 — 215 -1; t10. Eirik Tage Johansen, South Carolina, 75-68-73 — 216 E; t10. Stuart Moore, Auburn, 69-71-76 — 216 E; t10. Josh Persons, Minnesota, 71-72-73 — 216 E; t10. James Vargas, Florida, 75-74-67 — 216 E; t10. Andy Winings, Kentucky, 73-71-72 — 216 E
LSU SCORES
t19. Andrew Lanahan 73-73-73 — 219 +3
t25. Chris Wells 73-71-76 — 220 +4
t44. Beck Troutman 70-75-79 — 224 +8
t55. Brian Noonan 78-77-72 — 227 +11
72. Brent Struthers 81-74-80 — 235 +19