CHOUDRANT, La. — The 18th-ranked LSU men’s golf team has put itself in position to win its second tournament championship of the fall season as it has grabbed a share of the lead following Monday’s action at the 2008 Squire Creek Invitational at Squire Creek Country Club.
The Tigers find themselves in a tie for first place in the team standings with New Orleans as they followed a 2-under par 286 in the first round with a blistering 7-under 281 in the second round to finish the day with a 36-hole score of 9-under 567.
The Tigers and Privateers are five shots clear of third-place Louisville, while Louisiana-Lafayette and Nevada are seven shots back in a tie for fourth place in the race for the team title.
Not only has LSU put itself in a position to win its second tournament championship of the young season, but senior Jarrod Barsamian has jumped out to a two-shot lead in the individual standings after blistering the course with rounds of 4-under 68 and 3-under 69 to finish the day with a score of 7-under 137. He leads a group of five golfers that is two shots back in a tie for second place.
Ironically, Barsamian’s score does not count toward LSU’s team total as he is competing as an individual this week. He is on pace to shatter his best career finish in an LSU uniform when he tied for 11th place at the Squire Creek Invitational a year ago and become the first Tiger to win an individual event title since Beck Troutman won the 2005 LSU Spring Invitational.
Sophomore standout John Peterson paced LSU’s starting five on the tournament’s opening day as he followed a 3-under 69 in the first round with a 1-under 71 in the afternoon to finish in a tie for seventh place at 4-under 140. Peterson is seeking his second Top 10 finish of the fall season.
Sophomore Andrew Loupe and freshman Sang Yi are just outside the Top 10 of the leader board in a tie for 13th place at 2-under 142 for the championship.
Loupe was steady throughout the day as he opened the tournament with an even-par 70 in the first round before finishing with a 2-under 70 in the second round, while Yi rebounded from a 3-over par round of 75 in the morning with a team tournament-low of 5-under 67 in the afternoon to end the day in a tie for 13th place as he also seeks his second Top 10 finish of the season.
Freshman Josh Jones carded rounds of even-par 72 and 1-over 73 to finish the day in a tie for 27th place at 1-over 145, and freshman Austin Gutgsell posted matching 1-over 73s to tie for 32nd.
Teams will tee off in the final round beginning with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. Since live scoring will not be available for the final round, fans can check back with LSUsports.net for a complete tournament recap following what is sure to be an exciting conclusion on Tuesday afternoon.
SQUIRE CREEK INVITATIONAL ? SECOND ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 576)
T1. LSU 286-281 ? 567 -9; T1. New Orleans 292-275 ? 567 -9; 3. Louisville 284-288 ? 572 -4; T4. Louisiana-Lafayette 290-284 ? 574 -2; T4. Nevada 295-279 ? 574 -2; T6. Ole Miss 291-284 ? 575 -1; T6. Southern Mississippi 297-278 ? 575 -1; 8. Southeastern Louisiana 292-285 ? 577 +1; 9. Arkansas-Little Rock 299-279 ? 578 +2; 10. Arkansas State 293-288 ? 581 +5; 11. Middle Tennessee State 295-287 ? 582 +6; 12. Louisiana Tech 294-291 ? 585 +9; 13. Nebraska 287-300 ? 587 +11; 14. Texas-Arlington 296-293 ? 589 +13; 15. South Alabama 305-293 ? 598 +22; 16. Louisiana-Monroe 304-300 ? 604 +28.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 144)
1. Jarrod Barsamian, LSU, 68-69 ? 137 -7; T2. Lloyd du Preez, Arkansas State, 72-67 ? 139 -5; T2. Devin Carrey, Louisiana-Lafayette, 68-71 ? 139 -5; T2. Hector Arias, New Orleans, 70-69 ? 139 -5; T2. Matthew Carvell, Southeastern Louisiana, 70-69 ? 139 -5; T2. Joe David, Ole Miss, 70-69 ? 139 -5; T7. John Peterson, LSU, 69-71 ? 140 -4; T7. Adam Hadwin, Louisville, 67-73 ? 140 -4; T9. Taylor Coffman, Nevada, 73-68 ? 141 -3; T9. Ryan Hallisey, Nevada, 74-67 ? 141 -3; T9. Matthew Harvey, Louisiana Tech, 71-70 ? 141 -3; T9. Freddie Janneck, Southern Mississippi, 71-70 ? 141 -3.
LSU SCORES
*1. Jarrod Barsamian 68-69 ? 137 -7
T7. John Peterson 69-71 ? 140 -4
T13. Sang Yi 75-67 ? 142 -2
T13. Andrew Loupe 72-70 ? 142 -2
T27. Josh Jones 72-73 ? 145 +1
T32. Austin Gutgsell 73-73 ? 146 +2
* – Indicates player competing as an individual