STATESBORO, Ga. — The LSU men’s golf team wrapped up the Schenkel/E-Z-Go Invitational at Forest Heights Country Club on Sunday with a 54-hole score of 7-over 871 to finish in seventh against arguably the strongest 18-team field it has seen this season.
The Tigers entered the final round in sixth place in the team standings and posted a team total of 5-over 293 to finish in sole possession of seventh.
The squad showed great improvement from its appearance in the Schenkel/E-Z-Go Invitational a season ago when it finished in 13th place with a three-round score of 33-over 897. In addition, no LSU Tiger finished in the Top 20 on the leaderboard in last year’s championship.
“This was a good step in the right direction for our team this spring,” said LSU head coach Chuck Winstead. “This is certainly one of the better fields we’ve seen this year, and I thought our guys hung in there and competed well over the course of three rounds. We’ll continue to work hard and try to improve each day. I feel like we improved as a team this weekend.”
The Tigers were led by a trio of freshmen throughout the weekend as Clayton Rotz just missed earning his third Top 10 finish of the season after placing 12th, while Andrew Loupe wrapped up the championship in a tie for 13th and John Peterson finished in a tie for 25th.
After opening with rounds of 4-under 68 and even-par 72, Rotz posted a 3-over 75 to break par for the weekend at 1-under 215. Loupe was one stroke back at even-par 216 in three rounds, and Peterson led the way in the final round with a 2-under 70 en route to firing a 2-over 218.
Sophomore Bryant Lach posted three straight rounds of 2-over 74 to finish the weekend in a tie for 44th place at 6-over 222, while junior Jarrod Barsamian tied for 85th at 16-over 232.
“We certainly could have finished better toward the end of our round today, but to finish the way we did in a field like this is a step in the right direction for our young team,” Winstead said. “We had three freshmen tee it up and play well for us this weekend, and those are respectable finishes for their first time ever setting foot on this golf course.”
The top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide ran away with the team title by finishing seven strokes ahead of SEC rival Florida. Alabama finished with 4-under par round of 284 in Sunday’s final round en route to a 54-hole score of 15-under 849.
South Carolina’s George Bryan IV won medalist honors after firing an 8-under 208 to finish one shot ahead of Alabama’s Michael Thompson, who finished runner-up at 7-under 209.
The Tigers will be back in action next week as they travel to Awendaw, S.C., to compete in the fourth-annual Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate at Bulls Bay Golf Club. The three-day event is scheduled from March 23-25 and will be hosted by College of Charleston. The Tigers are looking to improve upon their 10th-place finish in the event a year ago.
SCHENKEL/E-Z-GO INVITATIONAL ? FINAL ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 864)
1. Alabama 285-280-284 ? 849 -15; 2. Florida 290-279-287 ? 856 -8; 3. South Carolina 286-281-292 ? 859 -5; 4. Tennessee 282-289-294 ? 865 +1; t5. Georgia Southern 301-288-281 ? 870 +6; t5. UAB 286-289-295 ? 870 +6; 7. LSU 287-291-293 ? 871 +7; 8. Kentucky 294-289-294 ? 877 +13; 9. North Florida 303-291-287 ? 881 +17; 10. North Carolina 298-290-297 ? 885 +21; 11. Augusta State 295-291-300 ? 886 +22; t12. Auburn 296-291-301 ? 888 +24; t12. Notre Dame 297-294-297 ? 888 +24; 14. Michigan State 295-296-299 ? 890 +26; 15. Minnesota 305-286-300 ? 891 +27; 16. NC State 296-296-300 ? 892 +28; 17. New Mexico 304-294-303 ? 901 +37; 18. Boston College 318-305-314 ? 937 +73.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 216)
1. George Bryan IV, South Carolina, 73-66-69 ? 208 -8; 2. Michael Thompson, Alabama, 69-71-69 ? 209 -7; 3. Logan Blondell, Georgia Southern, 73-69-68 ? 210 -6; t4. Billy Horschel, Florida, 72-67-72 ? 211 -5; t4. Matthew Swan, Alabama, 71-68-72 ? 211 -5; t6. Josh Sandman, Notre Dame, 73-71-68 ? 212 -4; t6. Brad Smith, UAB, 70-69-73 ? 212 -4; t6. Manuel Villegas, Florida, 72-67-73 ? 212 -4; t9. Tyler Brown, Florida, 70-72-72 ? 214 -2; t9. Kevin O’Connell, North Carolina, 74-68-72 ? 214 -2; t9. Michael O’Neal, North Florida, 72-72-70 ? 214 -2.
LSU SCORES
12. Clayton Rotz 68-72-75 ? 215 -1
T13. Andrew Loupe 71-71-74 ? 216 E
T25. John Peterson 74-74-70 ? 218 +2
T44. Bryant Lach 74-74-74 ? 222 +6
T85. Jarrod Barsamian 81-75-76 ? 232 +16