AWENDAW, S.C. – The 28th-ranked LSU men’s golf team led wire-to-wire to capture its third tournament championship of the season at the sixth-annual Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate as it fired a 5-under par 279 in Tuesday’s final round to finish the event with a 54-hole score of 7-under 845 at the par 71 layout at picturesque Bulls Bay Golf Club.
After grabbing a first-round lead with a 4-over 288 on Sunday, the Tigers never looked back as they fired consecutive rounds of 6-under 278 on Monday and 5-under 279 on Tuesday to capture the team crown by one stroke over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, who finished at 6-under 846 for the tournament.
No. 18-ranked Virginia finished three strokes back in third place at 4-under 848, while No. 19-ranked South Carolina took fourth place at 2-under 850 and No. 10-ranked Augusta State was fifth at 1-over 853.
LSU’s victory marked its third of the season as it also captured the team championship at the David Toms Intercollegiate at the Country Club of Louisiana in Baton Rouge on Oct. 27 and the Louisiana Classics on Oakbourne Country Club in Lafayette on March 9. The Tigers also continue their impressive performance in the month of March that includes a runner-up finish at the John Hayt Invitational on March 2.
The Tigers also earned their first victory at the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate in six appearances with their previous best fifth-place finish coming in the tournament’s inaugural season in 2005.
LSU is also building momentum with the start of the 2010 SEC Men’s Golf Championships less than one month away as its team score of 7-under par 845 this week is its second-lowest in relation to par this year. The Tigers fired an 8-under 844 to win the David Toms Intercollegiate back in October.
“We had a great week here leading all the way through the finish,” said LSU head coach Chuck Winstead. “We couldn’t buy a putt in the second round, and still left too many out there today. When the putts begin falling, we’re going to shoot some really low scores. And we’re confident they will. I am just proud of the fight the guys showed today. It wasn’t our best round by any means.
“We were out front for two and a half rounds, then stumbled in the middle of our round today. We fought our way back to the top in the end. Time will tell, but we probably gained more from that experience than if we had never trailed. I just thought we competed well all week long.”
Four Tigers broke par for the second-straight round as junior All-SEC and All-America candidate Andrew Loupe led the way with a 2-under 69 to earn his team-leading fourth Top 10 finish of the season.
Loupe finished the in a tie for 10th place on the leaderboard after firing a 2-under 211 for three rounds that also included a 1-over 72 in the first round and a 1-under 70 in the second round. Loupe’s four finishes in the top 10 have all come in his last six starts, including a win at the Louisiana Classics and a second-place finish at the SunTrust Gator Invitational in LSU’s spring opener on Feb. 14.
While Loupe led the way in the final round, sophomore standout Sang Yi set the pace for the week with a career-low tournament score of 6-under 207 to finish in a tie for third place on the final leaderboard.
Yi followed his 2-under 69 in Sunday’s opening round with a 3-under 68 on Monday and a 1-under 70 on Tuesday to finish at 6-under par for the championship. This marks the second time this season that Yi has finished in the Top 10 of the leaderboard after tying for 10th place at the Louisiana Classics.
Junior John Peterson and sophomore Austin Gutgsell matched one another shot for shot Tuesday to finish with equal scores of 1-under 70 in the final round, while sophomore Josh Jones added a 5-over 76.
Gutgsell finished the championship in a tie for 27th place overall with a 54-hole score of 3-over 216, while Peters tied for 41st place at 6-over 219 and Jones tied for 50th place at 8-over 221.
The Tigers will finish their preparation for the postseason as they make the trip to Austin, Texas, on April 5-6 to compete in the Morris Williams Intercollegiate being held at the University of Texas Golf Club. The 2010 SEC Men’s Golf Championships will follow April 16-18 as the Tigers will travel to the Seaside Course at Sea Island Golf Club in St. Simons Island, Ga., for the event.
HOOTIE AT BULLS BAY INTERCOLLEGIATE – FINAL ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 852)
1. LSU 288-278-279 – 845 -7; 2. Wake Forest 289-281-276 – 846 -6; 3. Virginia 295-274-279 – 848 -4; 4. South Carolina 296-272-282 – 850 -2; 5. Augusta State 302-270-281 – 853 +1; 6. Duke 289-281-284 – 854 +2; 7. Auburn 291-280-284 – 855 +3; T8. Clemson 294-279-284 – 857 +5; T8. NC State 291-286-280 – 857 +5; 10. Chattanooga 300-277-286 – 883 +11; 11. Kentucky 299-283-286 – 868 +18; 12. East Tennessee State 301-284-285 – 870 +18; 13. Central Florida 307-286-283 – 876 +24; 14. Long Beach State 307-297-299 – 03 +51; 15. College of Charleston 314-299-308 – 921 +69.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 213)
1. Matt Hill, NC State, 68-67-69 – 204 -9; 2. Lee Bedford, Wake Forest, 73-70-63 – 206 -7; T3. Sang Yi, LSU, 69-68-70 – 207 -6; T3. Brendan Gielow, Wake Forest, 72-66-69 – 207 -6; T3. Patrick Rada, South Carolina, 71-66-70 – 207 -6; 6. Patrick Reed, Augusta State, 73-66-69 – 208 -5; 7. Wesley Bryan, South Carolina, 75-64-70 – 209 -4; T8. Brinson Paolini, Duke, 73-68-69 – 210 -3; T8. Kyle Stough, Virginia, 72-71-67 – 210 -3; T10. Andrew Loupe, LSU, 72-70-69 – 211 -2; T10. Jordan Blann, Kentucky, 73-70-68 – 211 -2; T10. Luke Hopkins, Clemson, 72-70-69 – 211 -2; T10. Brad Schneider, Central Florida, 75-68-68 – 211 -2.
LSU SCORES
T3. Sang Yi, 69-68-70 – 207 -6
T10. Andrew Loupe, 72-70-69 – 211 -2
T27. Austin Gutgsell, 72-74-70 – 216 +3
T41. John Peterson, 79-70-70 – 219 +6
T50. Josh Jones, 75-70-76 – 221 +8