The LSU men’s golf team jump-started the spring season with a third-place showing during the weekend at the SunTrust Gator Invitational in Gainesville, Fla.
The No. 6 Tigers shot a 22-over-par 862 in 54 holes to finish behind Southeastern Conference foes No. 3 Florida and No. 13 Auburn.
The Gators won their eighth consecutive SunTrust Gator Invitational with a 4-over 844.
LSU seniors Ken Looper, Andrew Loupe and John Peterson all fired 5-over 215’s to tie for 11th place.
The All-American Loupe, who finished second place in the event last season, sandwiched a 73 between two 71 rounds for LSU.
Peterson, fresh off a victory at the Jones Cup on Feb. 8, rebounded from a disappointing 77 in the first round to shoot a 68 and a 70 in rounds two and three.
Looper also broke par in the second round, shooting a 1-under 69 and moving to 2-over, just three shots behind the leader and tied for fifth after day one. Looper’s 73 on Sunday bumped him out of the top 10.
Senior Clayton Rotz tied for 29th at 9-over, and junior Sang Yi finished in 40th place after a 13-over performance.
The Tigers’ total score of 862 was 10 shots better than the 872 they posted a year ago at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.
“While we certainly didn’t play our best, it’s hard for me to be too disappointed with third place since this is our best finish with this group at the Gator Invitational,” LSU coach Chuck Winstead said in a news release.
The host Gators had three players finish the event tied for first place at even par, including No. 1 Bank Vongvanij, who has not finished outside the top five in the 2010-11 season.
Florida senior Andres Echavarria won the four-man playoff with four consecutive pars to earn medalist honors for the weekend.
Auburn’s second-place finish was its fourth consecutive top-two result. Sophomore Blayne Barber and freshman Niclas Carlsson each posted a 1-under 69 on Sunday to cement the Tigers’ place in second.
North Florida and Central Florida rounded out the top five.
LSU returns to the Sunshine State in just two weeks for the John Hayt Invitational in Ponte Vedra. LSU has fared well at Sawgrass Country Club in the past two seasons, winning the 2009 team title and finishing second in 2010.
“We can be an outstanding team as the spring goes along,” Winstead said. “We just need to clean up our play on and around the greens.”
 
 
 
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contact Hunt Palmer at [email protected]