BATON ROUGE – Fresh off of their first victory of the 2014 fall season at the Golfweek Conference Challenge two weeks ago, the No. 4-ranked LSU Tigers will return home this weekend to play host to a 12-team field at the sixth-annual David Toms Intercollegiate being held on Saturday and Sunday at the University Club in Baton Rouge.
This marks the third year in a row in which the David Toms Intercollegiate will be held at the home course of the Tigers at the University Club after the event was held at the Country Club of Louisiana in Baton Rouge for two years in 2009 and 2010 before moving to Southern Trace Country Club in Shreveport in 2011.
Teams will play 36 holes on Saturday and a final 18 holes on Sunday as each day will begin with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. CT. The University Club will play to a par 72 and a lengthy 7,663 yards for the weekend.
The Tigers have enjoyed great success while playing host to the David Toms Intercollegiate in the previous five seasons as they have captured three teams titles with victories at the Country Club of Louisiana in the first two years of the tournament’s existence in 2009 and 2010 before adding a third victory in 2012 in its debut season at the University Club.
Two Tigers have also claimed the individual crown at the David Toms Intercollegiate as Austin Gutgsell fired a winning 10-under par 206 in 2010 and All-SEC performer Andrew Presley carded a 4-over par 220 in 2012.
The Oklahoma Sooners were crowned champions at Southern Trace Country Club in 2011. The Southeastern Louisiana Lions are the defending champions after firing a winning score of 4-under par 860 to finish 16 shots clear of runner-up Iowa State at the University Club a year ago. The Lions were the only team in the field to break par in the fifth-annual event during the 2013 fall season.
LSU has impressed to open the 2014 fall season with a win in its last tournament appearance at the Golfweek Conference Challenge held two weeks ago at Spirit Hollow Golf Club in Burlington, Iowa.
The Tigers have earned a No. 4 national ranking as one of the top teams nationwide in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index released Wednesday after taking the Golfweek Conference Challenge title with a winning 54-hole score of 15-under par 849 in the event held Sept. 14-16. The 2014 NCAA Semifinalists cruised to victory by 11 shots over runner-up SMU for their first win of the 2014-15 season.
They will look to repeat their form against a 12-team field at the David Toms Intercollegiate that features seven teams ranked among the Top 100 nationally in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index.
While LSU will tee off this week with a No. 4 national ranking on its side, No. 34 Winthrop and No. 38 Iowa State boast Top 50 rankings and No. 55 Southeastern Louisiana, No. 62 Southern Mississippi, No. 72 Mercer and No. 94 Louisiana Tech feature Top 100 rankings in the latest Golfweek rankings. Rounding out the 12-team field in the tournament are Central Arkansas, Louisiana-Lafayette, North Texas, Rice and South Alabama.
The Tigers are paired with Iowa State and Louisiana-Lafayette during Saturday’s action at the sixth-annual David Toms Intercollegiate as they will tee off from holes Nos. 1-4 with an 8:30 a.m. CDT shotgun start. Golfstat will provide live scoring of the event as fans can follow the Tigers in action by logging on to http://www.golfstat.com/.
Senior standout Stewart Jolly has shown the form of a First-Team All-American while leading the Tigers early in the 2014 fall season as he is a cumulative 18-under par in his two tournament starts on the year.
Jolly will once again lead the LSU lineup after winning his third career individual title at the Golfweek Conference Challenge two weeks ago where he fired his winning score of 9-under par 907 in 54 holes at Spirit Hollow Golf Club. He also opened his senior season with a tournament score of 9-under 207 to take third place at the Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic held Sept. 5-7 at The Farm Golf Club in Rocky Face, Georgia.
A Third-Team All-American selection by both PING and Golfweek a year ago, Jolly has caught fire to open the 2014 fall season as he boasts a 69.0 scoring average in his six rounds played on the season.
Fellow senior All-American Ben Taylor has also posted a cumulative score under par to start the season as he is 4-under par in two tournament starts, including a 1-under par 215 at the Golfweek Conference Challenge, where he tied for fifth place on the final leaderboard for his best finish of the season. Taylor is averaging a career-low 71.33 strokes per round through two events this fall.
Sophomore standout Eric Ricard is coming off of his best tournament in two seasons as an LSU Tiger as he finished runner-up to Jolly at the Golfweek Conference Challenge with a career-low effort of 5-under 211 for a second-place finish in the event. That performance included a career-low round of 3-under par 69 in the first round for a 72.17 scoring average this season.
Junior Zach Wright will make his third appearance of the season this weekend as he tees off with a 72.33 scoring average in two starts, while senior Myles Lewis will see his first action of the 2014 fall season this week.
Two Tigers will compete as individuals at the David Toms Intercollegiate as freshman Blake Caldwell makes his third appearance of the season after cracking LSU’s starting five in both the Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic and Golfweek Conference Challenge to start the year, while sophomore transfer Rhyne Jones is set to make his debut with the Tigers this weekend.
Caldwell tied for 29th place in his last appearance at the Golfweek Conference Challenge for the best finish of his collegiate career that included a pair of season-low 1-over 73s in the first and third rounds.
The David Toms Intercollegiate is named in honor of the most prolific performer in the illustrious history of the LSU men’s golf program. A three-time All-American with the Tigers from 1985-89, Toms captured a total of three first-team All-SEC honors and the 1987 SEC Championship to highlight a storied collegiate career. He was also twice named the SEC Player of the Year in 1988 and 1989.
Toms has since enjoyed one of the most successful career in the history of the PGA TOUR, highlighted by 13 PGA TOUR victories and a major championship victory at the 2001 PGA Championship. He has also won more than $40 million in career earnings since joining the PGA TOUR in 1996 while ranking No. 9 on the tour’s all-time money list.