SEA ISLAND, Ga. — The LSU men’s golf team will head to Sea Island, Ga., for the 2002 Southeastern Conference Championships on April 19-21 at the Sea Island Golf Club.
The 63rd edition of the Championships will feature one round each day, Friday through Sunday at the par-70, 6,849 yd. course. The tournament is being held at Sea Island for the second-straight season. All 12 schools will have a designated practice time on Thursday, April 18, with LSU practicing at 8:15 a.m., the second practice session of the day.
LSU will go with a lineup of senior Nathan Goulding, juniors Garrett Prather and John Humphries along with redshirt freshman Jason Horrell and true freshman Heath West. Goulding tied for 35th place last season, shooting a 15-over par 225. West, a native of Dothan, Ala., leads the Tigers with a 72.2 stroke average and is currently the eighth-ranked player in the conference.
The Tigers finished eighth at the Championships last season, while Georgia won their second-consecutive title. LSU last won the championship in 1987 at Florence, Ala., part of back-to-back titles under the leadership of All-American David Toms.
LSU will tee off at 8 a.m. on Friday and is paired with Auburn and Tennessee. Each player will tee off approximately 10 minutes after one another.
“We feel confident going into this tournament, we think we can definitely finish in the top five and maybe sneak ahead of a few teams that we have finished behind earlier in the season,” said head coach Greg Jones. “We need to string good, low rounds together and stay focused and we can have a really successful weekend.”
LSU has had a successful spring season, with wins at the Gator Invitational in February and the LSU Spring Invitational last month, but the Tigers need a strong showing at the SECs to enhance the chance of making a second-straight regional appearance.
“We need to step it up this weekend and finish near the top so we can improve our shot at going back to a regional. This is a very important tournament, and is for each team, so it will very competitive.”
LSU is second all-time in the SEC with 15 titles, with Georgia leading the way with 24 championships.