BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s golf team returns to action following a three-week break by traveling to Ruston, La., to compete in the Squire Creek Invitational hosted by Louisiana Tech at Squire Creek Country Club beginning Monday.
LSU is a part of an 18-team field that features four teams ranked among the top 50 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings released Oct. 7. The Tigers are No. 37 nationally, while No. 8 Middle Tennessee State, No. 28 Texas-Arlington and No. 48 Ole Miss are also in the field.
Rounding out the field are host Louisiana Tech, Arkansas-Little Rock, Arkansas State, College of Charleston, Jacksonville State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Nebraska, New Orleans, Nevada, North Texas State, Rice, Sam Houston State and Southern Miss.
LSU is coming off of a 10th-place finish in the Shoal Creek Intercollegiate on Sept. 25 and will tee off alongside Louisiana Tech and Ole Miss in the first round with a shotgun start at 8 a.m.
Teams will play 36 holes at Squire Creek Country Club on Monday followed by the final round of the 54-hole event on Tuesday with a shotgun start set for 8:30 a.m.
“We’re looking forward to playing Squire Creek. It’s a terrific golf course and one of the best we’ll play this year,” said LSU head coach Chuck Winstead. “It has very challenging greens, and certainly the players who manage the greens the best will have the best chance to have success. The guys have prepared well and are ready to get back to competition.”
Winstead has elected to play with a familiar lineup as senior Brian Noonan and freshmen Andrew Loupe, John Peterson and Clayton Rotz will each make their third start of the season at the Squire Creek Invitational. Junior Jarrod Barsamian has cracked the starting lineup for the first time this season, while sophomore Brent Blaum is set to compete as an individual.
Rotz is off to a fast start in his collegiate career as he earned his first career top-five finish at the Shoal Creek Intercollegiate by tying for fourth place with a 54-hole score of 1-under 215. The native of Chambersburg, Pa., boasts an impressive 71.5 stroke average in six rounds this season.
Noonan is currently second on the team with a 73.2 stroke average in six rounds, while Peterson follows closely behind with a 73.7 scoring average in his first season at the collegiate level.
Following their appearance this week in the Squire Creek Invitational, the Tigers will travel to Somis, Calif., on Oct. 22-23 to compete in the Club Glove Intercollegiate at Saticoy Country Club before wrapping up the fall season in the Bridgestone Collegiate Championship at Forest Oaks Country Club in Greensboro, N.C., from Oct. 29-30.