The LSU men’s golf team wrapped up its 2013 fall season on Tuesday with a No. 10 finish in the Isleworth Collegiate Invitational held in Windermere, Fla.
The Tigers put together an impressive fall campaign, highlighted by two top five team finishes and junior Stewart Jolly’s individual win at the Golfweek Conference Challenge.
Jolly shot 2-under-par in the final round Tuesday to finish the tournament 2-over-par, good for a No. 18 finish out of 75 total golfers. Jolly led the Tigers for the third time in four events this season.
Junior Myles Lewis finished the tournament on a high note, shooting 1-under-par in the final round to jump 16 spots to No. 35. Lewis’ final round was the second best of his fall season after his round of 70 two weeks ago at the David Toms Intercollegiate tournament in Baton Rouge.
After the first day of the tournament, freshman Eric Ricard found himself atop the Tigers’ leaderboard, posting a 71 in the opening round. But the rookie gradually fell each round after, shooting a 74 in round two and a 77 in round three to cap his collegiate debut with a score of 6-over-par.
Junior Curtis Thompson also came out swinging on Sunday with an even 72 but could not stay hot for the entire tournament. The Coral Springs, Fla., native dropped to No. 48 overall, shooting 2-over-par in the second round and 6-over-par in the final round.
The lone senior Andrew Presley rounded out the Tigers’ five man roster. In his third straight appearance at the Isleworth Collegiate Invitational, Presley shot consecutive 4-over-par rounds Sunday and Monday but struggled in the final round of the tournament to finish 16-over-par.
Presley was the star of the tournament for LSU last season when he tied for No. 9 overall with a score of 3-over-par.
The Tigers’ performance at Isleworth has declined in recent years. The 2010 and 2011 teams yielded back-to-back runner-up performances and 2012 saw the Tigers tied for No. 8, two spots better than this year’s outing.
It may be that the Isleworth Collegiate Invitational is emerging as one of the tougher tournaments on the LSU schedule. Of 15 schools, six competed in the eight-team match play tournament for the NCAA championship last season. Defending NCAA champion and No. 1 ranked Alabama won this year’s tournament in a landslide, shooting 26-under-par for the weekend.
The LSU men’s golf team will return to action in February when it kicks off its spring season in La Quinta, Calif.

Gallery • 4 Photos

Angela Major

Then-freshman Eric Ricard takes a shot Saturday, October 5, 2013 at the fifth-annual David Toms Intercollegiate at the University Club.