CHOUDRANT, La. — Despite firing its lowest 54-hole score since the 2004 season, the 18th-ranked LSU men’s golf team came up short in its bid to win its second tournament championship of the fall in what proved to be an exciting final round Tuesday at the Squire Creek Invitational.
LSU entered Tuesday’s final round in a tie for first place in the team standings with New Orleans after opening play with a 36-hole score of 9-under par 567 on Monday.
And the Tigers and Privateers needed more than 18 holes to determine this year’s champion with both teams holing out at No. 18 with matching rounds of 2-under 286 and finishing 54 holes with a team total of 11-under 853. It marked LSU’s lowest tournament score in relation to par since the 2004 LSU Spring Invitational when it fired a 13-under 851 in three rounds of competition.
The teams returned to the tee at the par-four 18th hole for a five-man sudden death playoff to see which squad would walk away as champions of the fifth-annual event, and this year it was UNO.
The Tigers have raced out of the blocks during the fall season as they have accumulated a 28-6-3 record against their opponents in three events, including a win in the season opener at the Gopher Invitational in Wayzata, Minn., exactly one month ago on Sept. 14.
“This was great event for our young guys to come play and gain a little bit of experience that will help them later in the season,” said LSU head coach Chuck Winstead. “We accomplished many of the things we set out to accomplish this week. All three of our freshmen had the opportunity to start, and I think they all had solid events. It was important for them to come out and play well.
“I thought we played well as a team. We’ve either had the lead going into the final round or have been right there going into the last round in all three of our events this season. That just shows the kind of competitiveness that our guys have to be able to go out and play well for 54 holes.”
Freshman Josh Jones led the way for the Tigers in the final round by firing a career-best 3-under 69 to finish the championship in a tie for 15th place at 2-under 214.
But sophomore Andrew Loupe and John Peterson were LSU’s top performers in the starting five in two days of competition as the duo just missed earning a Top 10 finish by a single stroke after finishing the championship in a tie for 11th place at 3-under 213. Loupe fired a 1-under 71 on the final day with Peterson carding a 1-over 73 over the final 18 holes.
Freshman Sang Yi also earned a Top 20 finish by tying for 19th place at even-par 216, including a 2-over 74 on Tuesday, while fellow freshman Austin Gutgsell finished in a tie for 30th place in his collegiate debut after carding three straight rounds of 1-over 73 for a 54-hole score of 3-over 219.
Senior Jarrod Barsamian capped his best tournament as an LSU Tiger with his first career Top 10 finish while playing as an individual, tying for sixth place in the individual standings with a three-round total of 6-under 210, including a 1-over 73 in Tuesday’s final round.
Barsamian shattered his previous best tournament score of 1-under 215 that he posted in finishing in a tie for 11th place at the Squire Creek Invitational a year ago.
“I was proud to see Jarrod go out and play the way he did this week,” Winstead said. “He is a guy who has seen tremendous improvement in his game over the last two years or so. He played well in this event last year, and has been in good form these last few weeks. We certainly expected that he would come out and play well again this week.
“We’re fortunate to have the kind of depth on our team this year where he was able to compete as an individual and give our three freshmen the opportunity to play in the lineup. That is the kind of experience that will benefit us later in the year.”
The Tigers will tee it up again in 12 days when they travel to Isleworth Golf and Country Club in Windermere, Fla., to compete in the Isleworth-UCF Collegiate Championship from Oct. 26-28 in what might be the most prestigious tournament of the regular season. It includes 11 of the Top 20 teams ranked in the latest Golfweek Performance Index released on Oct. 8.
TEAM SCORES (Par 864)
1. New Orleans 292-275-286 ? 853 -11; 2. LSU 286-281-286 ? 853 -11; 3. Ole Miss 291-284-281 ? 856 -8; 4. Louisville 284-288-287 ? 859 -5; T5. Louisiana-Lafayette 290-284-288 ? 862 -2; T5. Nevada 295-279-288 ? 862 -2; 7. Southern Mississippi 297-278-288 ? 863 -1; 8. Middle Tennessee State 295-287-282 ? 864 E; 9. Southeastern Louisiana 292-285-289 ? 866 +2; T10. Arkansas State 293-288-293 ? 874 +10; T10. Arkansas-Little Rock 299-279-296 ? 874 +10; 12. Louisiana Tech 294-291-290 ? 875 +11; 13. Texas-Arlington 296-293-290 ? 879 +15; 14. Nebraska 287-300-295 ? 882 +18; 15. South Alabama 305-293-291 ? 889 +25; 16. Louisiana-Monroe 304-300-302 ? 906 +42.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 216)
1. Taylor Coffman, Nevada, 73-68-66 ? 207 -9; T2. Matthew Harvey, Louisiana Tech, 71-70-67 ? 208 -8; T2. Joe David, Ole Miss, 70-69-69 ? 208 -8; T4. Adam Hadwin, Louisville, 67-73-69 ? 209 -7; T4. Matthew Carvell, Southeastern Louisiana, 70-69-70 ? 209 -7; T6. Jarrod Barsamian, LSU, 68-69-73 ? 210 -6; T6. Sean Dale, Ole Miss, 71-72-67 ? 210 -6; T6. Rick Cochran, Middle Tennessee State, 72-72-66 ? 210 -6; 9. Devin Carrey, Louisiana-Lafayette, 68-71-72 ? 211 -5; 10. Lloyd du Preez, Arkansas State, 72-67-73 ? 212 -4.
LSU SCORES
*T6. Jarrod Barsamian 68-69-73 ? 210 -6
T11. John Peterson 69-71-73 ? 213 -3
T11. Andrew Loupe 72-70-71 ? 213 -3
T15. Josh Jones 72-73-69 ? 214 -2
T19. Sang Yi 75-67-74 ? 216 E
T30. Austin Gutgsell 73-73-73 ? 219 +3