JACKSON, Miss. — Two Tigers earned Top 10 finishes to lead the LSU men’s golf team to their best tournament finish since the fall as the squad was runner-up following Tuesday’s final round at the inaugural Bank of America Intercollegiate at Reunion Golf and Country Club.
The Tigers followed impressive rounds of 4-under 284 and 9-under 279 during Monday’s action with a 5-over par round of 293 during a windy final round to finish four shots behind tournament champion Tennessee-Chattanooga with a three-round total of 8-under 856.
LSU’s score of 8-under is their lowest in relation to par this season by six strokes as they fired a 2-under 862 to take second place at the Squire Creek Invitational back on Oct. 16.
“The guys did a pretty good job of managing themselves again today considering that the course played much differently with the wind blowing as hard as it was,” said LSU head coach Chuck Winstead. “The greens firmed up quite a bit, and I don’t think there is any question that played a role in the higher scores that we saw today.”
Freshman John Peterson led the way with the first Top 10 finish of his young career as the native of Fort Worth, Texas, finished in a tie for fifth after breaking par for 54 holes for the first time this season. His 3-under 213 is a five-stroke improvement from his season best as he carded a 2-over 74 in the final round after opening with a 2-under 70 and 3-under 69 on Monday.
Freshman Andrew Loupe added a 2-over 74 of his own on Tuesday to finish the championship in a tie for eighth place at 2-under 214. This marks the second time this season that Loupe has finished in the Top 10 after opening the spring season by tying for fourth at the Gator Invitational.
Junior Jarrod Barsamian just missed becoming the third Tiger to finish among the Top 10 of the leaderboard after tying for 11th place to match his best finish as an LSU Tiger. Barsamian matched Peterson and Loupe with a final round 2-over 74 to finish at 1-under 215 for 54 holes.
The Tigers were led in the final round by a 1-under 71 from sophomore Bryant Lach, who tied for 24th place at 3-over 219. Freshman Clayton Rotz finished in a tie for 75th at 22-over 238.
LSU and UT-Chattanooga were the only two teams to break par for the championship as the Mocs took home the team title with an impressive four-stroke victory at 12-under 852. Vanderbilt and tournament host Ole Miss finished 13 shots back in a tie for third at 1-over 865. UAB’s Zach Sucher won medalist honors by two strokes over Ole Miss’ Jonathan Randolph at 9-under 207.
The Tigers have wrapped up the regular season and will head to St. Simons Island, Ga., next weekend to compete in the most competitive conference tournament in all of college golf at the 2008 SEC Men’s Golf Championships at Frederica Golf Club. The three-day event returns to the island for the eighth straight year and is scheduled to run from April 18-20.
“It’s always good for your confidence to head into a tournament after a good finish,” Winstead said. “Our conference tournament has turned into one of the premier events in all of college golf. We play a new course this year at Frederica that should be a great test for our young team.”
FINAL ROUND RESULTS ? BANK OF AMERICA INTERCOLLEGIATE
TEAM SCORES (Par 864)
1. UT-Chattanooga 283-280-289 ? 852 -12; 2. LSU 284-279-293 ? 856 -8; t3. North Florida 282-301-282 ? 865 +1; t3. Ole Miss 280-285-300 ? 865 +1; 5. Vanderbilt 288-289-295 ? 872 +8; 6. UAB 292-290-291 ? 873 +9; 7. UNC-Greensboro 290-294-292 ? 876 +12; 8. Mississippi State 291-294-292 ? 877 +13; 9. South Alabama 284-295-304 ? 883 +19; 10. Louisiana Tech 294-290-300 ? 884 +20; t11. Southern Mississippi 295-294-301 ? 890 +26; t11. Memphis 286-297-307 ? 890 +26; 13. Southeastern Louisiana 302-296-313 ? 911 +47; 14. Mercer 308-295-312 ? 915 +51; 15. Jackson State 299-303-315 ? 917 +53.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 216)
1. Zach Sucher, UAB, 69-70-68 ? 207 -9; 2. Jonathan Randolph, Ole Miss, 66-69-74 ? 209 -7; 3. Nathan Stamey, UNC-Greensboro, 70-71-70 ? 211 -5; 4. Jonathan Hodge, UT-Chattanooga, 71-69-72 ? 212 -4; t5. Jeff Dennis, North Florida, 68-75-70 ? 213 -3; t5. John Peterson, LSU, 70-69-74 ? 213 -3; t5. Ian Rochester, Memphis, 68-70-75 ? 213 -3; t8. Paul Apyan, Southern Mississippi, 70-70-74 ? 214 -2; t8. J.T. Clendenin, UT-Chattanooga, 70-72-72 ? 214 -2; t8. Andrew Loupe, LSU, 71-69-74 ? 214 -2.
LSU SCORES
T5. John Peterson 70-69-74 ? 213 -3
T8. Andrew Loupe 71-69-74 ? 214 -2
T11. Jarrod Barsamian 70-71-74 ? 215 -1
T24. Bryant Lach 78-70-71 ? 219 +3
T75. Clayton Rotz 73-81-84 ? 238 +22