ROCKY FACE, Ga. – With senior Smylie Kaufman, junior Stewart Jolly and sophomore Zach Wright each breaking par in Sunday’s final round, the No. 9-ranked LSU men’s golf team posted the best team score of the day at 8-under par 280 to climb wrap up the 25th-annual Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic in third place in their 2013-14 season opener.
Kaufman fired a team-low 5-under par 67 to set the pace, while Wright posted a 2-under 70, Jolly carded a 1-under 71 and junior All-SEC performer Curtis Thompson added an even-par 72 to LSU’s third-round score for a 54-hole team score of even-par 864 in their season-opening event held at The Farm Golf Club this weekend.
Georgia Tech was the wire-to-wire winner at this year’s Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic as the Yellow Jackets scored a six-shot victory over Georgia with their final team score of 14-under par 850.
The Bulldogs finished as the runner-up to their in-state rivals with a 54-hole score of 8-under 856, followed by the Tigers in third place at even-par 864, Clemson in fourth place at 1-over 865 and North Carolina rounding out the top five in fifth place at 10-over 874. Defending tournament champion Texas managed a ninth-place finish in the 14-team field with its final tally of 23-over 887.
Jolly was impressive while opening his junior season with a third-place finish on the final leaderboard as he followed an even-par 72 on Friday and a 4-under 68 on Saturday with a 1-under 71 during Sunday’s event with a season-opening tournament score of 5-under par 211. It marked Jolly’s sixth top-10 finish as an LSU Tiger, and his fifth top-10 finish over the past two seasons.
Jolly was just four shots off the pace as Georgia Tech’s Ollie Schniederjans and North Carolina’s Bailey Patrick finished as the co-champions of the event with winning scores of 9-under par 207.
Kaufman proved to be the star of the Tiger team in the final round while wrapping up the event with an outstanding 5-under 67 on Sunday afternoon that included eight birdies with one bogey and one double bogey.
Kaufman fired out of the gate on the front nine while making back-to-back birdies at the par-four third and fourth holes to quickly drop to 2-under par for the day. He then birdied three of the last four holes on the front nine at the par-four sixth, par-three eighth and par-five ninth holes to make the turn at 5-under par for the day. That’s where he would finish his round as he traded birdies at the par-three 11th, par-five 15th and par-four 18th holes with a double bogey at the par-four 14th hole and a bogey at the par-four 16th hole to remain at 5-under par.
Kaufman wrapped up LSU’s season opener in a tie for fifth place overall with a final 54-hole score of 2-under par 214 to earn his fifth career top-10 finish at the collegiate level with the LSU Tigers.
Thompson posted his second-straight round of even-par 72 to finish the tournament in a tie for 23rd place on the leaderboard at 3-over 219, while senior Andrew Presley posted a 1-over par 73 on Sunday to tie for 37th place at 7-over 223 and Wright finished strong with a 2-under 70 to tie for 48th place at 10-over 226 for the weekend.
The Tigers return to action next weekend with a trip to Spring Hollow Golf Club in Burlington, Iowa, as they face a tough test at the Golfweek Conference Challenge from Sept. 15-17. They will then host the fifth-annual David Toms Intercollegiate at the University Club in Baton Rouge on Oct. 5-6 before playing in this year’s Isleworth Collegiate Invitational at Isleworth Golf & Country Club in Windermere, Fla., from Oct. 20-22.
CARPET CAPITAL COLLEGIATE CLASSIC – FINAL ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 864)
1. Georgia Tech 280-289-281 – 850 -14; 2. Georgia 291-282-283 – 856 -8; 3. LSU 297-287-280 – 864 E; 4. Clemson 294-285-286 – 865 +1; 5. North Carolina 290-288-296 – 874 +10; 6. Auburn 299-287-289 – 875 +11; 7. Wake Forest 301-295-284 – 880 +16; 8. Middle Tennessee State 298-297-289 – 884 +20; 9. Texas 298-286-303 – 887 +23; 10. South Carolina 302-289-297 – 888 +24; T11. North Florida 295-298-300 – 893 +29; T11. Tennessee 306-296-291 – 893 +29; 13. Kennesaw State 297-299-301 – 897 +33; 14. Chattanooga 306-296-297 – 899 +35.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 216)
T1. Ollie Schniederjans, Georgia Tech, 67-67-73 – 207 -9; T1. Bailey Patrick, North Carolina, 68-69-70 – 207 -9; 3. Stewart Jolly, LSU, 72-68-71 – 211 -5; 4. Joey Garber, Georgia, 71-69-72 – 212 -4; T5. Smylie Kaufman, LSU, 74-73-67 – 214 -2; T5. Jake Mondy, Auburn, 75-69-70 – 214 -2; T5. Will Starke, South Carolina, 73-71-70 – 214 -2; T5. Cody Proveaux, Clemson, 73-70-71 – 214 -2; T5. Richy Werenski, Georgia Tech, 70-77-67 – 214 -2; T5. Michael Cromie, Georgia, 72-68-74 – 214 -2.
LSU SCORES
3. Stewart Jolly, 72-68-71 – 211 -5
T5. Smylie Kaufman, 74-73-67 – 214 -2
T23. Curtis Thompson, 75-72-72 – 219 +3
T37. Andrew Presley, 76-74-73 – 223 +7
T48. Zach Wright, 77-79-70 – 226 +10