SOMIS, Calif. — Despite winds gusting over 50 mph and nearby wildfires sprinkling ash onto the course during the afternoon, the LSU men’s golf team finished Monday’s action in fifth place at the ClubGlove Intercollegiate with a 36-hole score of 50-over 626.
The Tigers followed a 27-over 315 in the first round with a 23-over 311 in the second round to finish the day 20 strokes behind tournament host Pepperdine in the race for the team title.
Monday marked the first time that the Tigers had actually played the course as Sunday’s practice round was canceled due to the conditions caused by the wildfires raging in Southern California. Similar conditions are expected when the teams tee off in Tuesday’s final round.
“It certainly was a tough day to play,” said LSU head coach Chuck Winstead. “It’s a difficult course, especially playing in high winds like we had today, but everyone played in the same conditions. I think it was a good experience for our young guys to play today. Playing in tough conditions is a part of college golf.
“It doesn’t look like the weather will change for the final round tomorrow. I look for our guys to learn from what happened today and play a solid round tomorrow.”
Freshman John Peterson of Fort Worth, Texas, is in position to earn the first top-10 finish of his young career as he wrapped up the day in 11th place after carding rounds of 3-over 75 and 7-over 79 for a two-round total of 10-over 154.
The Tigers were also led by the play of freshmen Clayton Rotz and Andrew Loupe as the duo finished the day in a tie for 14th place and a tie for 29th place, respectively. Rotz, who fired a team low 2-over 74 in the first round, posted a 36-hole score of 12-over 156 on Monday, while Loupe managed a 15-over 159, including a 4-over 76 in the afternoon round.
Senior Brian Noonan carded rounds of 11-over 83 and 5-over 77 to wrap up the day in a tie for 34th at 16-over 160, and junior Jarrod Barsamian finished in a tie for 55th at 23-over 167.
The Tigers are paired with 11th-ranked Lamar and Colorado State in Tuesday’s final round and will tee off from the first tee beginning at 9:40 a.m. CDT. Live scoring for the final round of the 2007 ClubGlove Intercollegiate can be found at www.golfstat.com.
CLUBGLOVE INTERCOLLEGIATE ? SECOND ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 576)
1. Pepperdine 300-306 ? 606 +30; 2. Loyola Marymount 304-310 ? 614 +38; 3. Georgia State 311-304 ? 615 +39; 4. Lamar 313-309 ? 622 +46; 5. LSU 315-311 ? 626 +50; 6. Colorado State 311-318 ? 629 +53; 7. Kansas State 320-316 ? 636 +60; 8. Memphis 325-314 ? 639 +63; 9. UC-Santa Barbara 319-321 ? 640 +64; 10. Colorado 324-317 ? 641 +65; t11. New Mexico 323-320 ? 643 +67; t11. Nevada 324-319 ? 643 +67
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 144)
1. Joel Sjoholm, Georgia State, 73-72 ? 145 +1; 2. Jason D’Amore, Loyola Marymount 71-77 ? 148 +4; 3. Robbie Greenwell, Memphis, 77-73 ? 150 +6; 4. Jesse Barnsley, Pepperdine, 79-72 ? 151 +7; t5. Brian Locke, Loyola Marymount, 78-74 ? 152 +8; t5. Dustin Morris, Colorado State, 76-76 ? 152 +8; t7. Casey Clendenon, Lamar, 76-77 ? 153 +9; t7. Andrew Putnam, Pepperdine, 71-82 ? 153 +9; t7. Eric Shriver, Pepperdine, 74-79 ? 153 +9; t7. Colin Wilcox, Pepperdine, 76-77 ? 153 +9
LSU SCORES
11. John Peterson 75-79 ? 154 +10
T14. Clayton Rotz 74-82 ? 156 +12
T29. Andrew Loupe 83-76 ? 159 +15
T34. Brian Noonan 83-77 ? 160 +16
T55. Jarrod Barsamian 88-79 ? 167 +23