BATON ROUGE – The fourth-ranked LSU men’s golf team answered the challenge and finished the job Sunday to win the annual David Toms Intercollegiate at the University Club by two strokes over Southeastern Louisiana after an exciting final round of play on a crystal-clear fall day.
Senior All-American Ben Taylor made it an LSU sweep as his steady play made sure a late run by Mercer’s Emmanuel Kountakis wouldn’t be enough to prevent a three-shot win at 2-under par 214.
The win for LSU was its fourth in the Toms Intercollegiate since it started in 2009 and it was the 14th win in an LSU sponsored tournament since the start of the 1988-89 season.
It was also the second win in three tournaments for the Tigers this season, putting them again solidly in the national spotlight after their national semifinals appearance a year ago.
LSU and Southeastern entered Sunday’s play tied at 20-over par 596 after a day when the average score was 79 and North winds made the LSU’s home course more difficult.
While the wind was less, the course was still one that made the golfers think through their round and both of the top two teams responded with some strong play.
LSU posted 295 on the final day to finish at 27-over 891 for the 54 holes, two shots better than the Lions on 893 (299-297-297). It was nine shots back to Mercer which did have the day’s best round of 2-under 286 to finish at 38-over 902, seven shots clear of Winthrop. Louisiana-Lafayette finished in a tie for eighth at 55-over 919 with Louisiana Tech in 10th at 929.
The Tigers were able to avoid the big number that plagued teams all weekend with only one score above bogey in its counting scores. Helping tremendously was the turnaround by No. 1 player Stewart Jolly who after turning in the second round at +13 after 27 holes, posted nine consecutive pars to close out the second round and then came back Sunday with a 2-over par 74 to play those last 27 holes in +2.
For Taylor, the senior from England, his first LSU win was just a case of solid play from the sixth hole on in round one. Three-over after five holes Saturday after three straight bogeys, Taylor birdied the par 5 sixth and brought home that round in 74 and followed it with a 3-under 69 Saturday afternoon.
Sunday Taylor just consistently made the shots to help him and his LSU team. After an opening bogey, he proceeded to par the par 4 fourth, the par 5 sixth and the par 3 eighth to turn at 2-under. A bogey on the 12th was the only mark on his final nine holes as he posted 71 for his 2-under 214.
“The course was a lot firmer than it was (Saturday),” Taylor said after the win. “Obviously with the wind, it kind of dried out the course. The shots were a little different. They were going a lot further. It started to get hotter in the afternoon and the greens were very fast. It was great conditions for scoring. It was great conditions for getting rewarded for the right shots and I’m just thrilled to have hung in there on the back nine and shot a solid 71.”
Taylor was equally pleased with the win, but also where it came
“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “I’ve come so far since I’ve transferred (to LSU). The dedication that (Head Coach Chuck Winstead) and (Assistant Coach Garrett Runion) have given me since I’ve been here is breath taking. I’m fortunate to have both of them as coaches and to win the home event as my first one I couldn’t be more thrilled with the result.”
“Ben’s a terrific player and he’s been playing very well,” Coach Winstead said. “It’s good for him early in the year to get a win and to feel what that feels like and hopefully he can use this as momentum as we keep going.”
Kountakis moved up 10 spots on the final day and helped Mercer solidify third place with a tournament best 6-under 66 with eight birdies in the round. Kountakis had rounds of 76-75-66 for a 1-over 217, three shots back with Southeastern Louisiana’s Grady Brame posted 2-over 218 for third with rounds of 74-74-70 on a day when the stroke average was at 75.94.
LSU would also besides Taylor and Jolly count a 74 from Myles Lewis and a 76 from Eric Ricard. Zach Wright, who shot a non-counting 80 on the final day, finished next for LSU in the individual standings at 10-over 226 (73-73-80), good enough for a tie for 13th place. Lewis finished in the tie for 25th at 13-over 229 (75-80-74) while Jolly was T30 at 231 along with Rhyne Jones (who was playing as an individual competitor) and Ricard finished T33 at 232.
Winstead was pleased about his team completing the deal on its home course.
“When you play once a year at home, it’s not an every other event situation and you put a little more pressure on yourself to perform, so I think it’s important,” said the LSU head coach. “I think historically when you look at it, we’ve had some really good teams that have won by like a shot, two shots. It’s hard to get it in the barn.
He also saw early that the Toms title was going to his Tigers or the Lions of Southeastern with the teams playing in the primary wave of the shotgun start.
“I told our guys that the way the scoring looked after three holes, just right out of the gate it didn’t look like anyone was going to be able to mount enough of a charge so I just told our guys that we want to tee off first on every hole,” Winstead said. “We want to win every hole. We want to be in front of Southeastern on the tee. If we are teeing off first at the end of the day it will work out. Now we didn’t get that done all the way through, but that was the aim.”
Southeastern’s final round besides Brame’s 70 was paced by 75s from Lawrence Allen (T10) and Eamon Bradley and a counting 77 from Christopher Carstensen.
LSU will next be in action beginning Oct. 17 in Alpharetta, Georgia in the U.S. Collegiate Championships. Follow LSU men’s golf on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/LSUmensgolf and on Twitter @LSUmensgolf.
DAVID TOMS INTERCOLLEGATE
UNIVERSITY CLUB – Baton Rouge, La.
Final Team Results (Par 288-864)
1. LSU 302-294-295 – 891 +27; 2. Southeastern Louisiana 299-297-297 – 893 +29; 3. Mercer 309-307-286 – 902 +38; 4. Winthrop 305-306-298 – 909 +45; 5. Central Arkansas 319-299-299 – 917 +53; 6. North Texas 312-307-299 – 918 +54; 6. South Alabama 314-310-294 – 918 +54; 8. Iowa State 318-305-296 – 919 +55; 8. Louisiana-Lafayette 308-309-302 – 919 +55; 10 Louisiana Tech 323-300-306 – 929 +65; 11. Southern Miss 317-313-300 – 930 +66; 12. Rice 317-314-306 – 939 +75.
Final Individual Top 10 (Par 72-216)
1. Ben Taylor, LSU, 74-69-71 – 214 -2; 2. Emmanuel Kountakis, Mercer, 76-75-66 – 217 +1; 3. Grady Brame, Southeastern Louisiana, 74-74-70 – 218 +2; 4. Pep Angles, Central Arkansas, 73-77-70 – 220 +4; 5. Casey Fernandez, Southern Miss, 77-73-73 – 223 +7; 5. Juan Munoz, North Texas, 76-72-75 – 223 +7; 5. Haraldur Magnus, Louisiana-Lafayette, 73-79-71 – 223 +7; 8. Zach Seabolt, Winthrop, 74-77-73 – 224 +8; 8. Jerry Ren, Mercer, 78-73-73 – 224 +8; 10. Trey Rule, Mercer, 76-78-71 – 225 +9; 10. Bradley Kauffman, Winthrop, 76-76-73 – 225 +9; 10. Lawrence Allan, Southeastern Louisiana, 74-76-75 – 225 +9.
LSU Scores
1. Ben Taylor 74-69-71 – 214 -2
T13. Zach Wright 73-73-80 – 226 +10
T25. Myles Lewis 75-80-74 – 229 +13
T30. Stewart Jolly 81-76-74 – 231 +15
T33. Eric Ricard 80-76-76 – 232 +16