Men's Golf Opens Spring Sixth at Gator; Loupe Fourth

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The spring season is now officially underway for the LSU men’s golf team, and freshman Andrew Loupe has gotten off to a fast start after earning his first career Top 10 finish at the Gator Invitational at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.

After taking the lead with rounds of 2-under 68 and 5-under 65 on Saturday, Loupe posted a 2-over par 72 in Sunday’s final round to finish the championship in a tie for fourth at 5-under 205.

Loupe, whose previous best finish in a tournament this season was a tie for 11th place in both the Squire Creek Invitational and Bridgestone Collegiate Championship during the fall, fired the best tournament score by a Tiger this season and the lowest of his young career.

Junior Jarrod Barsamian matched Loupe’s effort with a 2-over 72 of his own in the final round to lead the Tigers into a tie for sixth place in the team standings with a 54-hole score of 13-over 853, including an 11-over 291 on Sunday. Barsamian was the Tigers’ No. 2 performer on the weekend as he tied for 28th place at 5-over 215.

Sophomore Bryant Lach carded a 3-over 73 on Sunday to wrap up the championship in a tie for 38th at 7-over 217, while senior Brian Noonan was one stroke back in a tie for 44th at 8-over 218 and freshman John Peterson finished in a tie for 57th at 12-over 222 in his spring debut.

Florida ran away with the team title for the fifth year in a row as three Gators blistered the course with Top 10 finishes en route to firing a 54-hole team score of 20-under 820 for the weekend.

The Florida State Seminoles finished a distant second at 8-under 832. Mississippi State posted a solid 2-over 842 to take third place, while UAB was two strokes back in fourth at 4-over 844 and South Alabama rounded out the top five after recording a three-round total of 11-over 851. LSU finished in a tie with nationally-ranked squads from Duke and Wake Forest.

Michael Schachner of Duke and Zach Sucher of UAB were declared co-medalists after wrapping up the final round with matching scores of 7-under 203. Florida’s Tyson Alexander finished one shot back in third place at 6-under 204, while Loupe tied Florida All-American Billy Horschel for fourth place at 5-under 205 for the championship.

The Tigers will return to action next month as they return to the state of Florida to compete in the Seminole Intercollegiate at Golden Eagle Country Club in Tallahassee from March 2-4. Florida State will play host to the Tigers’ first three-day event of the season.

GATOR INVITATIONAL – FINAL ROUND RESULTS

TEAM SCORES (Par 840)
1. Florida 269-273-278 – 820 -20; 2. Florida State 278-276-278 – 832 -8; 3. Mississippi State 288-275-279 – 842 +2; 4. UAB 276-280-288 – 844 +4; 5. South Alabama 283-282-286 – 851 +11; t6. LSU 283-279-291 – 853 +13; t6. Duke 289-281-283 – 853 +13; t6. Wake Forest 288-278-287 – 853 +13; 9. Coastal Carolina 283-283-290 – 856 +16; 10. Georgia Southern 287-282-292 – 861 +21; 11. Ole Miss 280-281-301 – 862 +22; 12. North Florida 284-286-295 – 865 +25; 13. South Florida 291-294-288 – 873 +33; 14. Georgia State 290-290-308 – 888 +48

TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 210)
t1. Michael Schachner, Duke, 68-68-67 – 203 -7; t1. Zach Sucher, UAB, 68-67-68 – 203 -7; 3. Tyson Alexander 66-70-68 – 204 -6; t4. Andrew Loupe, LSU, 68-65-72 – 205 -5; t4. Billy Horschel, Florida, 67-68-70 – 205 -5; t6. Jonas Blixt, Florida State, 67-67-73 – 207 -3; t6. Marc-Ettienne Bussieres, South Alabama, 68-72-67 – 207 -3; t6. Seath Lauer, Florida State, 72-68-67 – 207 -3; t9. Brendan Gielow, Wake Forest, 71-68-69 – 208 -2; t9. Drew Kittleson, Florida State, 72-68-68 – 208 -2; t9. Bank Vongvanij, Florida, 68-67-73 – 208 -2

LSU SCORES
T4. Andrew Loupe 68-65-72 – 205 -5
T28. Jarrod Barsamian 72-71-72 – 215 +5
T38. Bryant Lach 73-71-73 – 217 +7
T44. Brian Noonan 70-74-74 – 218 +8
T57. John Peterson 75-72-75 – 222 +12