STATESBORO, Ga. – Junior All-American and Ben Hogan Award candidate John Peterson fired a team-low round of 1-under par 71 on Sunday to set the pace for the 27th-ranked LSU men’s golf team on the final day of competition at the Schenkel/E-Z-Go Invitational held this weekend at the par-72 layout at Forest Heights Country Club.
After opening Sunday’s final round in a tie for 23rd place on the leaderboard, Peterson catapulted himself into a tie for 12th place in the final individual standings with a three-day score of even-par 216 for his best performance through four events during the spring season.
Peterson helped lead LSU to a ninth-place finish in the final team standings as the Tigers posted a 13-over par 877 for three rounds, including a team score of 9-over 297 in the final round.
The Auburn Tigers overcame a seven-shot deficit entering Sunday’s third round to capture the team title by a single stroke over the 23rd-ranked North Florida Ospreys. Auburn fired a 54-hole team score of 2-under 862, including a 3-over 291 in the final round, to take home the title by one stroke over North Florida’s 1-under 863. North Florida fell back into second with an 11-over 299.
The race for this individual crown proved to be an exciting one in the 31st edition of the Schenkel-E-Z-Go Invitational as Jordan Gibb of North Florida, Hunter Hamrick of Alabama and Jonathan Randolph each wrapped up Sunday’s action with matching 5-under par scores of 211 on 72 holes.
Randolph secured medalist honors at this year’s event after making a birdie on the par-four No. 1 on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to decide the individual champion.
Sophomore Austin Gutgsell earned a Top 20 finish for the Tigers as he finished in a tie for 20th at 2-over 218 for the weekend, including a 4-over 76 in the final round. Sophomore Sang Yi added a 1-over 73 for the Tigers to finish in a tie for 32nd place at 4-over 220, while junior Clayton Rotz tied for 64th place at 10-over 226 and junior Andrew Loupe tied for 67th place at 11-over par 227.
Sophomore Josh Jones enjoyed a solid weekend while competing as an individual as he equaled a score of 2-over 218 recorded by Gutgsell to tie for 20th place in the final individual leader board. Jones recorded consecutive rounds of 3-over 75, 3-under 69 and 2-over 74 on the weekend.
LSU returns to action next Sunday as they travel to Awendaw, S.C., to participate in the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate to be held March 28-30 at Bulls Bay Golf Club.
SCHENKEL/E-Z-GO INVITATIONAL – FINAL ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 864)
1. Auburn 288-283-291 – 862 -2; 2. North Florida 285-279-299 – 863 -1; 3. Virginia 286-287-292 – 865 +1; 4. Alabama 292-288-288 – 868 +4; T5. Tennessee 299-291-281 – 871 +7; T5. Ole Miss 287-290-294 – 871 +7; 7. NC State 289-286-297 – 872 +8; 8. Florida 294-297-284 – 875 +11; 9. LSU 291-289-297 – 877 +13; 10. South Carolina 293-293-292 – 878 +14; 11. Vanderbilt 291-291-299 – 881 +17; 12. Georgia Southern 292-289-302 – 883 +19; 13. North Carolina 300-288-300 – 888 +24; 14. Kentucky 295-293-301 – 889 +25; 15. Louisville 296-300-302 – 898 +34.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 216)
T1. Jordan Gibb, North Florida, 70-70-71 – 211 -5*; T1. Hunter Hamrick, Alabama, 73-68-70 – 211 -5; T1. Jonathan Randolph, Ole Miss, 70-69-72 – 211 -5; T4. J.C. Horne, North Florida, 69-69-74 – 212 -4; T4. Kevin Phelan, North Florida, 70-66-76 – 212 -4; T6. Logan Blondell, Georgia Southern, 71-68-74 – 213 -3*; T6. Will Collins, Virginia, 68-73-72 – 213 -3; T6. Kyle Kopsick, Auburn, 72-69-72 – 213 -3; T6. Bank Vongvanij, Florida, 69-72-72 – 213 -3.
LSU SCORES
T12. John Peterson, 72-73-71 – 216 E
T20. Austin Gutgsell, 72-70-76 – 218 +2
T20. Josh Jones, 75-69-74 – 218 +2*
T32. Sang Yi, 75-72-73 – 220 +4
T64. Clayton Rotz, 75-74-77 – 226 +10
T67. Andrew Loupe, 72-78-77 – 227 +11