STATESBORO, Ga. – While being led by matching scores of 3-under par 69 by senior All-American John Peterson and junior standout Austin Gutgsell, the No. 11-ranked LSU men’s golf squad fired a team score of 1-under par 287 to wrap up the first round of the 32nd-annual Schenkel Invitational in third place in the event being held at Forest Heights Country Club.
The Tigers will tee it up in Saturday’s second round in sole possession of third place in the team standings as they trail No. 14 Auburn (279) by eight shots and No. 4 Florida (282) by five shots on the board.
Both Peterson and Gutgsell were outstanding in the first round of play as they combined for seven birdies and just one bogey on the afternoon while matching one another shot-for-shot with a pair of 3-under 69s.
Peterson fired out of the blocks with three birdies in his first five holes, including the par-four first, fourth and fifth holes, before adding a fourth birdie on the par-five seventh hole en route to a score of 4-under 32 on his front nine. After rattling off eight-straight pars on the back nine, Peterson dropped the only shot for the day with a bogey at the par-five 18th hole for an 18-hole score of 3-under 69.
Gutgsell was flawless on the afternoon as he carded three birdies with no bogeys on his round for his best score since firing a 3-under par 69 in the final round of the David Toms Intercollegiate back on Oct. 19. He dipped into red figures with birdies at the par-three third, par-five seventh and par-four 17th holes.
Fellow junior Sang Yi added a 1-over 73 toward LSU’s final team total while finishing the day in a tie for 25th place on the individual leaderboard. Senior Andrew Loupe and freshman Andrew Presley recorded 4-over 76s to tie one another for 54th place following the opening round of competition.
In addition, LSU senior Clayton Rotz carded a round of 7-over 79 in Friday’s first round while competing as an individual. Rotz ended the day in a tie for 74th place overall.
Florida senior standout Bank Vongvanij jumped out to a two-stroke lead over Auburn’s Blayne Barber on the strength of a 6-under 66 in the opening round. Barber followed with a 4-under 68, while both Peterson and Gutgsell follow in a six-way tie for third place on the leaderboard. Four other competitors wrapped up the day in a tie for ninth place overall at 2-under par 70.
LSU is paired with Auburn and Florida in the second round as the trio will begin from the first tee starting at 9:30 a.m. CDT. Live scoring of the second and third rounds at this weekend’s Schenkel Invitational can be found online at Golfstat’s official website at www.golfstat.com.
SCHENKEL INVITATIONAL – FIRST ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 288)
1. Auburn 279 -9; 2. Florida 282 -6; 3. LSU 287 -1; 4. Virginia 288 E; 5. Tennessee 289 +1; T6. Notre Dame 291 +3; T6. North Florida 291 +3; T8. NC State 292 +4; T8. North Carolina 292 +4; 10. Georgia Southern 297 +9; 11. Minnesota 301 +13; 12. Vanderbilt 302 +14; 13. Mississippi State 303 +15; 14. Ole Miss 304 +16; 15. Kentucky 306 +18.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 72)
1. Bank Vongvanij, Florida, 66 -6; 2. Blayne Barber, Auburn, 68 -4; T3. John Peterson, LSU, 69 -3; T3. Austin Gutgsell, LSU, 69 -3; T3. Niclas Carlsson, Auburn, 69 -3; T3. Phillip Choi, Florida, 69 -3; T3. Niall Platt, Notre Dame, 69 -3; T3. Robin Wingardh, Tennessee, 69 -3; T9. Kevin Aylwin, North Florida, 70 -2; T9. Ben Kohles, Virginia, 70 -2; T9. Michael McGowan, North Carolina, 70 -2; T9. Henry Zaytoun, North Carolina, 70 -2.
LSU SCORES
T3. John Peterson, 69 -3
T3. Austin Gutgsell, 69 -3
T25. Sang Yi, 73 +1
T53. Andrew Loupe, 76 +4
T53. Andrew Presley, 76 +4
T74. Clayton Rotz, 79 +7*
* – Denotes player competing as an individual.