STATESBORO, Ga. — The LSU men’s golf team shot a 17-over par 593 on Saturday to end day one of the 2003 Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational tied for 13th place at Forest Heights Country Club in Statesboro, Ga.
The Tigers shot an 8-over par 296 in round one followed by a 9-over 297 in round two to place 26 shots behind the leader and nation’s No. 1 team Clemson, who fired a 9-under 567. No. 6 Wake Forest is in second place after shooting a 7-under 569. Auburn, ranked 14th, is in third place at 5-under 571, and No. 9 Florida and ninth-ranked North Carolina State are tied for fourth place at 1-under 575. Ten teams currently ranked in Golfweek’s Top 25 poll are competing this weekend in what is one of the strongest fields in collegiate golf this season.
Georgia, ranked 18th, is in sixth place, No. North Carolina is in eighth, No. 4 Augusta State is tied for ninth with No. 25 Tennessee, and 16th-ranked Duke is 11th. Auburn’s Will Claxton is the leading individual after 36 holes with a 6-under par 138. Claxton fired a 5-under 67 in round one and then a 1-under 71 in his second round.
Senior John Humphries paced LSU on Saturday as he shot a 1-under 71 in round one and added an even-par 72 in the second round for a 1-under 143. Humphries is tied for 13th overall and is looking for his seventh top-20 finish in nine tournaments this season. Sophomore Heath West shot a 1-over par 145 and is tied for 25th entering Sunday’s third and final round as he shot 75-70 on Saturday.
Freshman David Aitchison is in 62nd place after shooting 75-77 — 152, and is 8-over par. Sophomore Brandon Aydlett shot a 9-over 153 and is in 63rd place, and freshman Aaron Smith shot a 10-over 154 and is tied for 64th.
“This is a very tough tournament with some of the best teams in the country, so we really have our work cut out for us,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones. “We had some good swings out there today but still did not put together two rounds like we needed to.”
“We need to concentrate on Sunday and try to put some low numbers up on the board to finish the way we would like,” Jones said.
LSU will tee off at 8:27 a.m. on Sunday for the final round and is paired with Ohio State and East Tennessee State.
The Tigers will not be in action until next month when participate in the 2003 Southeastern Conference Championships April 25-27 in Sea Island, Ga.
2003 Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational
March 22-23, 2003
Forest Heights Country Club
Statesboro, Ga.
TEAM SCORES (Par 576)–Current ranking according to GolfWeek in parentheses
1. Clemson (1) 281-186 — 567 -9; 2. Wake Forest (6) 285-284 — 569 -7; 3. Auburn 286-285 — 571 -5; t4. Florida (9) 287-288 — 575 -1; t4. North Carolina State (19) 288-287 — 575 -1; 6. Georgia (18) 289-287 — 576 E; 7. South Carolina 293-287 — 580 +4; 8. North Carolina (8) 293-288 — 581 +5; t9. Augusta State (4) 290-296 — 586 +10; t9. Tennessee (25) 290-296 — 586 +10; 11. Duke (16) 293-297 — 590 +14; 12. Georgia Southern 299-292 — 591 +15; t13. LSU 296-297 — 593 +17; t13. East Tennessee State 291-302 — 593 +17; 15. Ohio State 302-305 — 607 +31
TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
1. Will Claxton, Auburn, 67-71 — 138 -6; t2. Jack Ferguson, Clemson, 72-67 — 139 -5; t2. Stuart Moore, Auburn, 69-70 — 139 -5; t4. Eirik Johansen, South Carolina, 70-70 — 140 -4; t4. Richard Treis, North Carolina, 72-68 — 140 -4
LSU SCORES
t13. John Humphries 71-72 — 143 -1
t25. Heath West 75-70 — 145 +1
62. David Aitchison 75-77 — 152 +8
63. Brandon Aydlett 75-78 — 153 +9
t64. Aaron Smith 75-79 — 154 +10