AWENDAW, S.C. — Sophomore Bryant Lach wrapped up the fourth-annual Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate on Tuesday afternoon with a solid final round of even-par 71 at Bulls Bay Golf Club to earn his best career finish as an LSU Tiger.
Lach, who followed a 1-over 72 in Sunday’s first round with an even-par 71 in Monday’s second round, finished the tournament in a tie for 19th place with a three-round total of 1-over 214.
Lach got off to a fast start with a birdie on the par-five 10th hole after starting the day on the back nine. He followed a pair of bogeys on No. 14 and No. 15 with a birdie on the par-four 16th before finishing his round with two birdies and two bogeys on his back nine for an 18-hole score of 71.
The native of The Woodlands, Texas, earned his first career Top 20 finish at one of the premier young tournaments in all of college golf after opening the spring with his previous best finish of 38th at the SunTrust Gator Invitational in Gainesville, Fla., on Feb. 10. His 54-hole total of 1-over is also the lowest in relation to par in his brief two-year career.
Lach led the Tigers throughout this year’s championship as they finished in 10th place in the team standings with a three-round total of 22-over 874, including a 5-over 289 in the final round.
Freshman standout Andrew Loupe matched Lach’s effort as he also finished the final round with an even-par 71. After making the turn at 1-over par, Loupe made three birdies and two bogeys down the stretch to bring his score to even-par for the afternoon. He rebounded from rounds of 81 and 78 in the first two days of competition to finish the championship at 17-over 230.
Freshman John Peterson fired a 1-over 72 during Tuesday’s action to finish in a tie for 37th place at 7-over 220, while fellow freshman Clayton Rotz finished with a 4-over 75 to tie for 49th place at 9-over 222 and senior Brian Noonan posted a 6-over 77 to tie for 55th at 11-over 224.
The NC State Wolfpack blew away the rest of the field with a tournament low 13-under 271 in the final round to win the team title by 12 strokes over runners-up Clemson and South Carolina.
NC State finished the week with an impressive total of 14-under par 838, while Clemson and South Carolina matched one another with cumulative totals of 2-under 850. In addition, NC State’s Matt Hill won medalist honors with a 54-hole score of 9-under 204, , while Jurrian van der Vaart of Virginia Tech finished two strokes back in second place.
The Tigers will break for two weeks before returning to action at the Reunion Intercollegiate at Reunion Golf Club in Jackson, Miss., from April 7-8. They will then follow with a trip to St. Simons Island, Ga., from April 18-20 to compete in the 2008 SEC Men’s Golf Championships at Frederica Golf Club.
HOOTIE AT BULLS BAY INTERCOLLEGIATE ? FINAL ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 852)
1. NC State 288-279-271 ? 838 -14; t2. Clemson 285-284-281 ? 850 -2; t2. South Carolina 280-286-284 ? 850 -2; 4. Florida 285-285-281 ? 851 -1; t5. Virginia Tech 290-295-276 ? 861 +9; t5. Lamar 286-294-281 ? 861 +9; 7. Auburn 286-293-286 ? 865 +13; 8. Central Florida 291-291-284 ? 866 +14; 9. Kentucky 296-297-275 ? 868 +16; 10. LSU 290-295-289 ? 874 +22; 11. Augusta State 284-298-296 ? 878 +26; t12. Baylor 306-291-282 ? 879 +27; t12. Wake Forest 291-297-291 ? 879 +27; 14. College of Charleston 291-300-291 ? 882 +30; 15. Duke 294-301-290 ? 885 +33.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 213)
1. Matt Hill, NC State, 71-67-66 ? 204 -9; 2. Jurrian van der Vaart, Virginia Tech, 70-71-65 ? 206 -7; t3. Justin Harding, Lamar, 67-74-67 ? 208 -5; t3. Phillip Mollica, Clemson, 69-71-68 ? 208 -5; t5. Darren Blair, NC State, 74-69-67 ? 210 -3; t5. Kyle Stanley, Clemson, 71-69-70 ? 210 -3; t7. Andrew Byrd, NC State, 69-72-70 ? 211 -2; t7. Greg Forest, Central Florida, 70-72-69 ? 211 -2; t7. Andy Winings, Kentucky, 75-70-66 ? 211 -2; t10. Patrick Cunning, South Carolina, 70-71-71 ? 212 -1; t10. Keith Guest, Augusta State, 68-75-69 ? 212 -1; t10. Toby Ragland, Florida, 73-71-68 ? 212 -1; t10. Webb Simpson, Wake Forest, 68-71-73 ? 212 -1.
LSU SCORES
T19. Bryant Lach 72-71-71 ? 214 +1
T37. John Peterson 72-76-72 ? 220 +7
T49. Clayton Rotz 72-75-75 ? 222 +9
T55. Brian Noonan 74-73-77 ? 224 +11
72. Andrew Loupe 81-78-71 ? 230 +17