The wind whipped, and the scores skyrocketed in the first two days of the LSU Spring Invitational. Mississippi State found itself in ninth place after both rounds but as the wind died down on the final day, the scores dropped.
Mississippi State had three players shoot an even par 72 in that final round, lifting State five spots to fourth place, their best finish in the tournament since finishing fourth in 2002. The Bulldogs improved 13 spots from last year’s 17th place finish.
LSU won the three-day tournament by six shots over Lamar University. The Tigers posted a tournament total of 865 or one-over-par, 25 shots better than the Bulldogs’ 890.
“We played more consistent from top to bottom,”State head coach Clay Homan said about his team’s two-over-par final round. “It was good to get three even par scores on the final day with the tough pin placements.”
Senior Joe Deraney finished the tournament one shot out of a top 10 finish, posting rounds of 77, 71 and 72. Deraney finished four-over-par for the tournament, nine shots behind tournament winner Beck Troutman of LSU.
Sophomore Josh Oller finished tied for 29th out of the 89 individuals who competed. Oller, who had five birdies in his final round, shot back-to-back rounds of 76 in the first two days and finished with an even par 72 on the final outing.
“I hit the ball good all three days,” Oller said. “I just couldn’t make any putts the first two days.”
Jake Lambert finished one shot behind Oller with a tournament total of 225. Tim Satow and Michael Knight rounded out the team with scores of 226 and 227.
“The golf course played a little easier the last day because the winds died down quite a bit from the first two days,” Homan said.
The winds gusted above 30 mph with a consistent 20-25 mph breeze during the first two days of the tournament, but the final round brought better conditions and better scores.
Oller gave a great example of how hard the wind was blowing in those first two days.
In his practice round, which preceded the tournament’s first round, Oller used a pitching wedge on his second shot on a par 4 hole. But in the first day of tournament play, he was forced to use a four iron on the same hole due to the wind whipping in his face. And his four iron shot still came up short of the green.
The second round of play seemed to be the toughest day. The average team total was a 13-over-par 301, while the following day in the final round the average score was seven shots lower at 294.
“Josh [Oller] and Jake [Lambert] are starting to really contribute,” Homan said of his two sophomores. “Last week Josh had a top five finish and this week he was our second finisher. He has the ability to go pretty low.”
The Bulldogs have had their best tournament finishes of the year in the last two outings.
Mississippi State won the Homewood Suites Invitational March 22, beating the host team, University of South Alabama, by five shots.
“We’ve always had potential,” Oller said of his team’s recent success. “We’ve just never been able to put it together. This past tournament was a pretty strong field, so finishing fourth was pretty good.”
State will travel to Auburn for the Billy Hitchcock Invitational this weekend, marking the final tournament before they play in the Southeastern Conference Championship Tournament April 15-17 at the Sea Island Golf Club in Sea Island, Ga.