GREENSBORO, N.C. — Junior Jarrod Barsamian fired a career low 4-under par 68 and freshman Andrew Loupe posted a solid round of 2-under 70 to lead the LSU men’s golf team in Tuesday’s final round at the UNCG Bridgestone Collegiate Championship.
Barsamian was impressive as he carded four birdies on his round without a bogey to finish the championship with back-to-back rounds under par after firing a 2-under 70 in the second round on Monday. He posted a 54-hole total of 2-over 218 to finish in a tie for 18th place.
After playing the first 14 holes of his final round at 2-over par, Loupe birdied four straight holes down the stretch to match his best career finish by tying for 11th place at even-par 216.
“Jarrod is playing as well as he’s played at any point during his career here at LSU,” said LSU head coach Chuck Winstead. “Andrew was also very impressive today, especially with the way he finished off his round. He’s a talented guy and showed that by making four straight birdies down the stretch. They’ve each shown tremendous improvement so far this season.”
The Tigers, who opened the final round alone in ninth place in the team standings, wrapped up the fall season with their third lowest round in five events with a 4-under par 284 at Forest Oaks Country Club to finish the championship in a tie for sixth place at 10-over 874.
Freshman Clayton Rotz carded his lowest round of the tournament with an even-par 72 on Tuesday to finish in a tie for 57th at 11-over 227, while freshman John Peterson contributed a 2-over 74 to tie for 23rd with a 54-hole score of 3-over 219.
Senior Brian Noonan followed back-to-back rounds of 5-over 77 on Monday with a 6-over 78 in the final round. The Austin, Texas, native tied for 72nd place at 16-over 232 for the championship.
“This was a great way for our team to finish the fall season,” Winstead said. “The guys are now looking forward to just being college students and taking a break from golf for a while. They’ve gotten a lot of great experience this fall and deserve a break. We’ll come back fresh and ready to go in a few months when we start the spring season.”
Louisville teed off in the final round with a one-stroke lead and fired a 9-under par round of 279 to win by three shots with a team total of 4-under 860. The Mississippi State Bulldogs made a late charge to finish second with a tournament low 11-under 277 in the final round.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was senior standout Derek Fathauer, who ran away with the individual title after firing a 54-hole score of 10-under 206. Fathauer finished five shots clear of Kent State’s Brett Cairns after firing a 4-under 68 on Tuesday.
The Tigers break for three months before opening the spring season with an appearance in the SunTrust Gator Invitational at Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville, Fla., from Feb. 9-10.
BRIDGESTONE COLLEGIATE CHAMPIONSHIP ? FINAL ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 864)
1. Louisville 300-281-279 ? 860 -4; 2. Mississippi State 300-286-277 ? 863 -1; 3. Central Florida 294-293-279 ? 866 +2; 4. North Carolina 294-286-290 ? 870 +6; 5. Kent State 293-288-292 ? 873 +9; t6. LSU 302-288-284 ? 874 +10; t6. Indiana 298-291-285 ? 874 +10; 8. Wake Forest 294-297-286 ? 877 +13; 9. Notre Dame 292-295-291 ? 878 +14; 10. Memphis 293-290-298 ? 881 +17; 11. College of Charleston 292-299-296 ? 887 +23; 12. Arkansas 304-288-296 ? 888 +24; 13. UNC-Greensboro 296-300-294 ? 890 +26; 14. Maryland 308-296-288 ? 892 +28; 15. Toledo 308-293-303 ? 904 +40
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 216)
1. Derek Fathauer, Louisville, 71-67-68 ? 206 -10; 2. Brett Cairns, Kent State, 72-68-71 ? 211 -5; 3. Greg Forest, Central Florida, 75-71-66 ? 212 -4; t4. Barden Berry, North Carolina, 72-70-71 ? 213 -3; t4. Adam Hadwin, Louisville, 79-65-69 ? 213 -3; t4. David Holzworth, North Carolina, 73-69-71 ? 213 -3; t7. Matt Fast, Mississippi State, 75-71-68 ? 214 -2; t7. Nathan Stamey, UNC-Greensboro, 68-74-72 ? 214 -2; t9. Andrew Landry, Arkansas, 72-72-71 ? 215 -1; t9. David Markle, Kent State, 73-70-72 ? 215 -1
LSU SCORES
T11. Andrew Loupe 75-71-70 ? 216 E
T18. Jarrod Barsamian 80-70-68 ? 218 +2
T23. John Peterson 75-70-74 ? 219 +3
T57. Clayton Rotz 75-80-72 ? 227 +11
T72. Brian Noonan 77-77-78 ? 232 +16