AWENDAW, S.C. — Sophomore Beck Troutman followed his 2-under 69 in the second round with a 1-under 70 in the final round Tuesday to lead the LSU men’s golf team to a sixth-place finish in the team standings in the second annual Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate at Bulls Bay Golf Club.
Troutman earned his team leading third top-five finish of the season by tying for fourth place with Vanderbilt’s junior All-American Luke List with an even-par 213. This marks the third time this season that Troutman has finished a tournament in a tie for fourth and is the fourth top-five finish of his LSU career.
LSU rebounded from a slow start with back-to-back team scores of 3-over 287 to finish in sixth place with a three-round total of 22-over 874. Despite finishing the first round in 15th place, the Tigers earned victories over five teams ranked in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Top 30, including No. 14 Clemson, No. 18 Kentucky, No. 22 Alabama, No. 27 N.C. State and No. 28 Auburn.
“A finish like this shows the potential that this team has and that the guys refused to give up after not playing as well in the first round,” said LSU head coach Chuck Winstead. “You’re not going to always play well in this game, and our guys did a great job of putting the first round behind them and playing well in the last two rounds.”
Junior Chris Wells finished the tournament in a tie for 26th with a 6-over 219, while senior Andrew Lanahan tied Troutman for the best round of the day with a 1-under 70 to finish in a tie for 33rd with a 7-over 220. Sophomore Brian Noonan matched his season low with a 1-over 72 in the final round and tied for 61st with teammate senior Aaron Smith.
“The guys just seemed like they became more comfortable on the golf course yesterday and today,” Winstead said. “The problem wasn’t so much off the tee as it was on the greens. The greens here are very undulating and very fast, which is something we’re not really accustomed to. They became more aware of where to put the ball on the greens and how to play them, and that showed in our scores the last two days.”
Wake Forest captured the team title with relative ease as the Demon Deacons were the only team to finish the tournament under par. Wake Forest finished 16 strokes ahead of both Central Florida and South Carolina with a three-round total of 10-under 842. Jamie Miller of Augusta State outdueled Webb Simpson of Wake Forest for the individual title by one shot with a 9-under 204.
The Tigers have a quick turnaround as they travel to Augusta, Ga., on Saturday and Sunday to compete in the Administaf Augusta State Invitational at Forest Hills Golf Club followed by a trip to the 2006 SEC Championships at Sea Island Golf Club in Sea Island, Ga., April 21-23.
“We have another quick turnaround with our next tournament, but this is nothing we haven’t had to overcome before,” Winstead said. “We have played a tough schedule against some very good teams this year and should be prepared to face any challenge that we encounter.”
HOOTIE AT BULLS BAY INTERCOLLEGIATE — FINAL ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 852)
1. Wake Forest 275-277-290 — 842 -10; t2. Central Florida 289-282-287 — 858 +6; t2. South Carolina 279-283-296 — 858 +6; 4. Augusta State 296-269-295 — 860 +8; 5. North Carolina 288-286-292 — 866 +14; 6. LSU 300-287-287 — 874 +22; 7. N.C. State 298-279-298 — 875 +23; 8. Vanderbilt 297-282-298 — 877 +25; t9. Alabama 299-286-294 — 879 +27; t9. Clemson 293-286-300 — 879 +27; 11. Florida State 293-293-295 — 881 +29; 12. Kentucky 292-295-296 — 883 +31; 13. College of Charleston 293-291-300 — 884; 14. Virginia 297-281-307 — 885 +33; 15. Auburn 296-295-295 — 886 +34
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 213)
1. Jamie Miller, Augusta State, 70-64-70 — 204 -9; 2. Webb Simpson, Wake Forest, 68-65-72 — 205 -8; 3. Sonny Nimkhum, Central Florida, 70-71-71 — 212 -1; t4. Luke List, Vanderbilt, 70-70-73 — 213 E; t4. Beck Troutman, LSU, 74-69-70 — 213 E; t6. Stephen Lewton, N.C. State, 74-70-70 — 214 +1; t6. Kyle Reifers, Wake Forest, 69-76-69 — 214 +1; t6. Robert Riesen, North Carolina, 72-72-70 — 214 +1; t9. Brian Duncan, Clemson, 72-71-72 — 215 +2; t9. Florian Fritsch, South Carolina, 70-75-70 — 215 +2; t9. Eirik Tage Johansen, South Carolina, 67-70-78 — 215 +2; t9. Doug Manchester, Wake Forest, 67-71-77 — 215 +2; t9. Gari Maton, College of Charleston, 73-70-72 — 215 +2; t9. Stefan Wistorf, Central Florida, 76-68-71 — 215 +2
LSU SCORES
t4. Beck Troutman 74-69-70 — 213 E
t26. Chris Wells 73-70-76 — 219 +6
t33. Andrew Lanahan 78-72-70 — 220 +7
t61. Brian Noonan 78-76-72 — 226 +13
t61. Aaron Smith 75-76-75 — 226 +13