ROCKY FACE, Ga. – Senior All-American Stewart Jolly fired a bogey-free and career-low round of 6-under par 66 in Sunday’s final round to catapult himself into third place on the final leaderboard at the Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic for the second-straight season in the event held this weekend at The Farm Golf Club in Rocky Face, Georgia.
Jolly kicked off an All-American junior campaign a year ago with a third-place finish at the Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic when he fired a 5-under par 211 to open the 2013 fall campaign. The Birmingham native finished off an outstanding weekend with a 54-hole score of 9-under par 207 after also firing rounds of 1-under 71 on Friday and 2-under 70 on Saturday.
After teeing off in the final round in a five-way tie for the team lead, the No. 9-ranked Tigers broke par for the third-straight day with a Sunday’s round of 2-under 286 and a 54-hole score of 9-under 855.
The Tigers played the final round with just four of their five-man lineup after freshman Blake Caldwell was forced to withdraw before teeing off on Sunday morning due to illness. LSU’s head coach Chuck Winstead was also forced to miss the final day of the team’s season opener at The Farm Golf Club with illness.
The South Carolina Gamecocks teed off Sunday in seventh place in the 14-team field, but fired the lowest team score in the final round with a 12-under par 276 to take home a narrow one-shot victory over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets with a final score of 16-under par 848. Auburn and Kennesaw State followed in a tie for third place at 12-under par 852, while Alabama rounded out the top five in fifth place at 11-under par 853.
Jolly is off to a flying start to his senior season after also capturing a third-place finish at the Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic a year ago en route to earning Third-Team All-American honors to cap his junior season.
He dipped into red figures for the first time on Sunday with a birdie at the par-three eighth hole before making the turn at 1-under par on his final round. Jolly then turned in a 31 on the back nine thanks to his birdie on the par-four 10th hole, an eagle at the par-five 12th hole and birdies at the par-four 14th and 18th holes for the lowest score of his collegiate career at 6-under par 66.
Senior All-American Ben Taylor and junior Zach Wright each tied for 16th place on the final leaderboard with matching tournament scores of 3-under par 213 as Wright followed Jolly with his even-par 72 and Taylor had a 1-over 73 to help lead the Tigers to a team score of 2-under par 286 in Sunday’s final round. Taylor’s final round was also highlighted by an eagle at the par-five 12th hole en route to a 33 on the back nine.
Sophomore Eric Ricard rounded out the team scoring with a 3-over 75 in the final round as he wrapped up his season opener in a tie for 48th place overall at 6-over par 222 for the championship.
Caldwell was unable to finish off his debut tournament as an LSU Tiger after opening the tournament with rounds of 5-over 77 on Friday and 2-over 74 on Saturday. The Ponchatoula, Louisiana, native was set to tee off in the final round in a tie for 59th place in the individual standings with a two-day total of 7-over par 151 after 36 holes.
With the 26th-annual Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic now in the books, the Tigers will return to action next weekend with their return trip to Burlington, Iowa, to compete at the Golfweek Conference Challenge for the second year in a row as the event will be held at Spirit Hollow Golf Club from Sept. 14-16. LSU earned a fifth-place finish in the 15-team field at the Golfweek Conference Challenge during the 2013 fall season.
26TH CARPET CAPITAL COLLEGIATE CLASSIC – FINAL ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 864)
1. South Carolina 291-281-276 – 848 -16; 2. Georgia Tech 293-276-280 – 849 -15; T3. Auburn 294-275-283 – 852 -12; T3. Kennesaw State 281-288-283 – 852 -12; 5. Alabama 286-283-284 – 853 -11; T6. LSU 282-287-286 – 855 -9; T6. Clemson 287-284-284 – 855 -9; 8. Wake Forest 286-287-286 – 859 -9; 9. North Carolina 286-291-284 – 861 -3; 10. Chattanooga 291-282-293 – 866 +2; 11. Tennessee 296-280-296 – 872 +8; 12. North Florida 300-292-294 – 886 +22; 13. Florida 312-288-297 – 897 +33; 14. Middle Tennessee State 300-299-308 – 907 +43.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 216)
1. Ollie Schniederjans, Georgia Tech, 72-64-68 – 204 -12; 2. Robby Shelton, Alabama, 69-68-69 – 206 -10; 3. Stewart Jolly, LSU, 71-70-66 – 207 -9; T4. Will Starke, South Carolina, 73-67-69 – 209 -7; T4. Davis Womble, Wake Forest, 68-70-71 – 209 -7; T4. Cody Proveaux, Clemson, 70-71-68 – 209 -7; T4. Matt Gilchrest, Auburn, 73-66-70 – 209 -7; T8. Will Murphy, South Carolina, 75-70-66 – 211 -5; T8. Jimmy Beck, Kennesaw State, 69-73-70 – 211 -5; T10. Liam Johnston, Chattanooga, 76-66-70 – 212 -4; T10. Kelby Burton, Kennesaw State, 69-74-69 – 212 -4; T10. Miller Capps, Clemson, 69-69-74 – 212 -4; T10. Ryan Benton, Auburn, 76-66-70 – 212 -4; T10. Dru Love, Alabama, 71-70-71 – 212 -4; T10. Brandon Dalinka, North Carolina, 70-70-72 – 212 -4.
LSU SCORES
3. Stewart Jolly, 71-70-66 – 207 -9
T16. Ben Taylor, 67-73-73 – 213 -3
T16. Zach Wright, 71-70-72 – 213 -3
T48. Eric Ricard, 73-74-75 – 222 +6
75. Blake Caldwell, 77-74-WD – 151 +7