by Will Stafford, Associate Sports Information Director
BATON ROUGE – A total of 14 teams battled it out for 54 holes this week at the inaugural David Toms Intercollegiate at The Country Club of Louisiana, and after Tuesday’s final round the homestanding LSU Tigers were the ones lifting the championship trophy after earning a thrilling one-stroke victory.
After teeing off with a three-shot lead over the rest of the field, the Tigers fired a 2-over par round of 286 for a three-round score of 8-under 844 to win by a single stroke over Kent State and North Florida.
The Tigers picked up their first tournament championship of the season and their fourth all-time in events held at The Country Club of Louisiana. LSU also won three team titles when the course played host to the Country Club of Louisiana Intercollegiate for 11 seasons from 1993-2003 with its last coming in 2003.
LSU’s winning score of 8-under 844 is a season low in relation to par in four tournaments as the team has now wrapped up its fall season and will prepare for a grueling spring season beginning in February.
The inaugural David Toms Intercollegiate at The Country Club of Louisiana marked the first home event for the Tigers since playing host to the LSU Spring Invitational at the University Club in April 2005.
“It was great to have the opportunity to play at home. It was a great event,” said LSU head coach Chuck Winstead. “I’ve said it before, there is not a golfer that has reached the level David Toms has reached that does as much for his university and its golf program. We are thankful for David and The Country Club of Louisiana for helping us put together a terrific event.
“I’m also thankful to all of the LSU golf supporters who came out to pull our guys through. Many guys of the other teams came up after the round ended today and mentioned what great support our team had there today. That’s not common in college golf, but as we all know, that is LSU.”
Junior Andrew Loupe paced the Tigers with a 5-under par 66 in Tuesday’s final round as he soared up the leaderboard for a fourth-place finish in the final standings after opening the day in a tie for 18th place.
Loupe fired out of the gate with a birdie on the par-four first hole and made the turn at 2-under for his day after carding a pair of birdies at the par-five fifth and par-four seventh around a bogey at the par-three sixth hole. He carried that momentum into the back nine where he shot three birdies in a four-hole stretch on the 11th, 13th and 14th holes to finish at 6-under 207 for the championship.
Fellow junior John Peterson just missed winning his second career individual title with a 54-hole score of 8-under par 205, including a 2-over 73 in the final round. He opened the day with a three-shot lead after a strong opening day in which he fired back-to-back rounds of 5-under 66.
In the end, Peterson finished one shot behind individual champion Jade Scott of Rice, who fired a 6-under 65 on Tuesday to take home the title with a 54-hole score of 9-under 204.
“John and Andrew continue to show their talent and ability,” Winstead said. “John had a very solid event, finishing just one shot out for the individual title. He played some of his best golf of the semester over the last two days. And after a tough start, Andrew played his last two rounds like he knows how to play. That is what we needed, and he really put the hammer down today when we needed it.”
Sophomore Sang Yi added a 1-over par 72 during Tuesday’s competition to help lead LSU to the victory, while finishing the event in a tie for 38th place at 5-over 218. Sophomore Josh Jones tied for 33rd place at 4-over 217, while junior Clayton Rotz finished in 60th place 10-over 223.
While competing as individuals, senior Brent Blaum tied for 45th at 7-over 220, while sophomore Austin Gutgsell tied for 54th at 9-over 222 and senior Brian Leveille placed 75th at 27-over 240.
“I’m very proud of our guys as the course played a lot harder today,” Winstead said. “It was gratifying to watch Josh Jones start poorly but hang in there and post a meaningful round. It’s fun to see Sang continue to grow as a player. I know they are looking forward to the spring season.
“We certainly have areas in which we need to continue to work on and improve, but LSU Golf is headed in the right direction. It’s fun for us to see this program grow, and we are just scratching the surface. Our guys set the bar high. I look forward to continuing to work with them and see them develop as players and as student-athletes in our program. We will work toward that each and every day.”
The Tigers kick off the spring season with their annual trip to Gainesville, Fla., to compete against a great field in the Gator Invitational to be held Feb. 13-14 at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.
DAVID TOMS INTERCOLLEGIATE – FINAL ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 852)
1. LSU 285-273-286 – 844 -8; T2. North Florida 289-276-280 – 845 -7; T2. Kent State 283-278-284 – 845 -7; 4. Ole Miss 286-280-283 – 849 -3; T5. Rice 285-287-279 – 851 -1; T5. Southeastern Louisiana 289-275-287 – 851 -1; 7. Pepperdine 285-281-288 – 854 +2; 8. Mississippi State 288-279-292 – 859 +7; 9. Auburn 291-291-282 – 864 +12; 10. Louisiana Tech 290-283-293 – 866 +14; 11. UAB 286-289-297 – 872 +20; 12. South Alabama 295-288-294 – 877 +25; 13. Northwestern 279-292-307 – 878 +26; 14. Louisiana-Lafayette 299-287-306 – 892 +40.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 213)
1. Jade Scott, Rice, 67-72-65 – 204 -9; 2. John Peterson, LSU, 66-66-73 – 205 -8; 3. John Hahn, Kent State, 70-68-68 – 206 -7; 4. Andrew Loupe, LSU, 73-68-66 – 207 -6; 5. Mackenzie Hughes, Kent State, 68-66-74 – 208 -5; T6. Joel Thelen, Louisiana Tech, 70-67-72 – 209 -4; T6. Jonathan Randolph, Ole Miss, 67-73-69 – 209 -4; T8. Alvaro Arizabaleta, Southeastern Louisiana, 72-66-72 – 210 -3; T8. Jonathan Bale, Louisiana Tech, 73-68-69 – 210 -3; T8. Kevin Phelan, North Florida, 70-70-70 – 210 -3.
LSU SCORES
2. John Peterson, 66-66-73 – 205 -8
4. Andrew Loupe, 73-68-66 – 207 -6
T33. Josh Jones, 70-72-75 – 217 +4
T38. Sang Yi, 77-69-72 – 218 +5
T45. Brent Blaum, 72-73-75 – 220 +7*
T54. Austin Gutgsell, 71-73-78 – 222 +9*
60. Clayton Rotz, 76-70-77 – 223 +10
75. Brian Leveille, 77-80-83 – 240 +27*
* - Denotes individual competing as an individual
