GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 6-ranked LSU men’s golf team kicked off its 2011 spring season this weekend with a solid third-place finish at the 2011 Gator Invitational after posting a 54-hole team score at 22-over par 862 at the par-70 layout at Florida’s Mark Bostick Golf Course.
After posting rounds of 14-over 294 in the first round and even-par 280 in the second round in Saturday’s competition, the Tigers recorded a team score of 8-over 862 for a score of 22-over 862 in three rounds.
The homestanding and No. 3-ranked Florida Gators captured the team championship with a winning score of 13-over 853, while the No. 13-ranked Auburn Tigers followed in second place in the 14-team field with a team score of 13-over 853. Rounding out the top five of the team standings at the Gator Invite were North Florida in fourth place at 26-over 866 and Central Florida in fifth place at 27-over 867.
“While we certainly didn’t play our best, it’s hard for me to be too disappointed with third place since this is our best finish with this group at the Gator Invitational,” said LSU head coach Chuck Winstead. “As a team, we struggled with the greens throughout the event. We can be an outstanding team as the spring goes along. We just need to clean up our play on and around the greens.”
A trio of LSU seniors wrapped up the 2011 Gator Invitational on the cusp of the top 10 of the leaderboard as Ken Looper, Andrew Loupe and John Peterson finished in a tie for 11th place overall at 5-over 215.
After opening the tournament with a 7-over 77 in the first round, Peterson played the final 36 holes of the weekend in 2-under par with a team-best 2-under 68 in Saturday’s second round and another team-best even-par 70 in Sunday’s final round for his 54-hole score of 5-over 215.
Loupe sandwiched rounds of 1-over 71 in the first and third rounds around a 3-over 73 in the second, and Looper posted a 3-over 73 in Sunday’s final round to go along with rounds of 3-over 73 and 1-under 69 in Saturday’s competition to match Peterson’s effort with a 5-over 215 for the weekend.
Junior Sang Yi added a 4-over 74 toward LSU’s team score in the final round while finishing in 40th place at 13-over 223, while senior Clayton Rotz wrapped up the event in a tie for 29th place at 9-over 219.
Four competitors fired matching 54-hole scores of even-par 210 at the weekend to wrap up the final round tied atop the leaderboard and force a sudden-death playoff for the right to be crowned the individual champion. In the playoff, Florida’s Andres Echavarria outlasted Gators teammates Phillip Choi and Bank Vongvanij and Florida State standout Drew Kittleson for the tournament title.
The Tigers will be back in action in two weeks with a return trip to the state of Florida as they compete in the 2011 John Hayt Invitational set for Feb. 27-March 1 at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. LSU has enjoyed tremendous success at the John Hayt Invitational in recent seasons with a first-place finish in 2009 and a second-place finish in the team standings in 2010.
GATOR INVITATIONAL – FINAL ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 840)
1. Florida 281-282-281 – 844 +4; 2. Auburn 291-278-284 – 853 +13; 3. LSU 294-280-288 – 862 +22; 4. North Florida 291-288-287 – 866 +26; 5. Central Florida 292-283-292 – 867 +27; 6. Coastal Carolina 289-295-284 – 868 +28; 7. Florida State 295-289-285 – 869 +29; 8. Lamar 296-291-286 – 873 +33; 9. Ole Miss 292-291-292 – 875 +35; 10. UAB 298-302-299 – 899 +59; 11. Jacksonville 310-301-290 – 901 +61; 12. Mississippi State 303-296-304 – 903 +63; 13. Georgia Southern 310-301-298 – 909 +69; 14. Georgia State 308-298-305 – 911 +71.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 210)
T1. Phillip Choi, Florida, 72-69-69 – 210 E; T1. Andres Echavarria, Florida, 69-70-71 – 210 E; T1. Drew Kittleson, Florida State, 72-69-69 – 210 E; T1. Bank Vongvanij, Florida, 68-74-68 – 210 E; T5. Blayne Barber, Florida State, 73-69-69 – 211 +1; T5. Niclas Carlsson, Auburn, 72-70-69 – 211 +1; T7. MJ Daffue, Lamar, 73-69-70 – 212 +2; T7. Jonathan Randolph, Ole Miss, 70-70-72 – 212 +2; 9. Greg Eason, Central Florida, 70-75-68 – 213 +3; 10. Major Forbess, North Florida, 69-74-71 – 214 +4.
LSU SCORES
T11. Ken Looper, 73-69-73 – 215 +5
T11. Andrew Loupe, 71-73-71 – 215 +5
T11. John Peterson, 77-68-70 – 215 +5
T29. Clayton Rotz, 73-71-75 – 219 +9
40. Sang Yi, 77-72-74 – 223 +13