STATESBORO, Ga. — The LSU men’s golf team will participate in the Schenkel/E-Z-Go Invitational Saturday and Sunday at Statesboro, Ga.
Georgia Southern University will host the event at the par-72, 6,945 yd. Forest Heights Country Club. The 2002 field is comprised of 15 teams, including 10 that competed at the NCAA Championships a year ago. Georgia will look to win its third Schenkel title in a row this season. The Bulldogs were also the runner-up in 1999. The teams will play 36 holes on Saturday beginning at 8 a.m., and then will play the final 18 holes on Sunday.
LSU (No. 23 GolfWorld/No. 36. GolfWeek) hopes to improve upon its 13th-place finish at the tournament a year ago. Last season the Tigers shot a 26-over par 890 to finish ahead of just two teams. Nathan Goulding, then a junior, was LSU’s best finisher at 25th place after posting a 3-over 219. The Tigers have won title at the Schenkel once in 1989 and was the runner-up in 1976.
The Tigers are coming off of a fourth-place finish at the Conrad Rehling Alabama Spring Invitational last weekend at Tuscaloosa, Ala. True freshman Heath West fired even-par 213 to finish 11th. West leads the team with a 72.0 stroke average, tied for second on the team with four top-20 finishes and two top-10 finishes. Junior John Humphries shot a 5-under 208 in Alabama to place fourth.
Highlighting the field this season are Clemson, Wake Forest, Florida and Tennessee. The team’s are ranked 2-5 in the latest Sagarin/GolfWeek Top 25 Poll.
“This is going to be a very tough field to contend with this year, because some of the best teams in the country will be battling against us,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones. “This will be a similar to the Gator Invitational in February, so we just need to have all five guys shoot some low numbers and we should do fine.”
The Tigers won the Gator Invitational in February after shooting a 6-over 846. It was LSU’s first of two tournament victories this season. LSU also won the LSU Spring Invitational earlier this month in Baton Rouge.
Following the Schenkel the Tigers will travel to the Kroger Invitational on April 6-8 at Augusta, Ga.