April 1, 2005
BATON ROUGE, La. - The 17 teams competing in the fifth-annual LSU Spring Invitational at the University Club were greeted by winds gusting to 30 mph as play began Friday, creating difficult scoring conditions and allowing only five of the 90 participants to shoot rounds better than par.
LSU, Texas-Arlington and Arkansas-Little Rock fought through the tough conditions to tie for first with a score of 4-over par 292.
"The winds were 30 to 35 mph, and the wind is the greatest defense out at the University Club," said UTA head coach Jay Rees. "There were some tough pins out there, and it really caused havoc with a lot of people. Even though the course was set up very fair, when you get winds that high it's going to take the scores up."
LSU head coach Greg Jones agreed that the high winds played havoc on much of the field.
"It made some of these holes play like beasts, especially the ones that were into the wind," Jones said. "It also made putting pretty difficult, which is one of the toughest things to do in the wind. I think our recent experiences with playing in the wind really helped us today."
Texas-Arlington was the only team to have multiple players shoot under par, as junior Tyrone Mordt fired a 2-under 70 and senior Jordan Krantz carded a 1-under 71. They are currently in second and a tie for third, respectively.
"They played very consistent and made no more than a bogey," Rees said. "They just kept the ball in play and played very efficient. Both are very mature and their mindset for the competition benefited them in the tough conditions."
UALR's Patrick Sullivan was not affected, however, as the Trojan junior fired the round of the day with a 3-under 69. Sullivan is in position to earn his second victory of the season and has recorded six top-10 finishes.
Brandon Aydlett paced the tournament host LSU Tigers with his lowest round of the season, a 1-under 71. He currently sits in a tie for third place. Jones said that he is encouraged by the play of the senior, who is coming off of a broken collarbone suffered over the Christmas holidays.
"Nobody is hungrier to play well on our team than Brandon," Jones said. "It's hurt him a great deal in his senior year to miss time with an injury like that, but he's come a long way. Nobody wants more for this program than Brandon, and he carries that LSU bag with a lot of pride."
Freshman Beck Troutman of LSU carded an even-par 72 to sit a tie for sixth, while sophomore Chris Wells shot a 2-over 74 to tie for 22nd. Senior Heath West is in a tie for 28th, and sophomore Garrett Runion is tied for 67th.
Despite being tied for the lead after the first round, Jones is more concerned about his team focusing their attention on playing the course than looking at the leaderboard.
"It's still just us against the course," Jones said. "If everybody takes care of their own ball and plays good then we'll have a good finish. We'll worry about being in position to win the tournament when there is only three holes left. I want our guys to just stay focused on playing one hole at a time.
Second-round action begins Saturday at 8:00 a.m. with tee times running through 9:52 a.m. LSU will tee off beginning at 9:20 and will be paired with Texas-Arlington and Arkansas-Little Rock.
LSU SPRING INVITATIONAL -- FIRST ROUND TEAM SCORES (Par 288) t1. LSU 292 +4; t1. Texas-Arlington 292 +4; t1. Arkansas-Little Rock 292 +4; 4. Furman 293 +5; 5. South Alabama 294 +6; 6. Middle Tennessee State 295 +7; t7. Arkansas State 297 +9; t7. Tulane 297 +9; 9. Mississippi State 298 +10; 10. Lamar 299 +11; t11. Maryland 302 +14; t11. Louisiana-Lafayette 302 +14; 13. Southeastern, La. 303 +15; 14. Jacksonville State 304 +16; 15. South Florida 305 +17; 16. Memphis 311 +23; 17. Southern Miss 313 +25
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 72) 1. Patrick Sullivan, UALR, 69 -3; 2. Tyrone Mordt, UTA, 70 -2; t3. Blake Bivens, MTSU, 71 -1; t3. Jordan Krantz, UTA, 71 -1; t3. Brandon Aydlett, LSU, 71 -1; t6. Anders Hofvander, SLU, 72 E; t6. Chris Gilliland, Furman, 72 E; t6. Colin Speirs, USA, 72 E; t6. Lee Sanders, UALR, 72 E; t6. Beck Troutman, LSU, 72 E; t6. Tim Satow, MSU, 72 E; t6. Justin Lowe, ULL, 72 E; t6. Hunter Bendall, Maryland, 72 E; t6. Josh Lampley, USA, 72 E; t6. Julian Colmenares, JSU, 72 E; t6. Ryan Kornmann, Lamar, 72 E;
