MOBILE, Ala. - Highlighted by Marc-Etienne Bussiere's top-10 performance in a Canadian Professional Golf Tour event last month, numerous members of the University of South Alabama men's golf team will be entering this week's season-opening Mason Rudolph Invitational looking to continue the success they had over the summer.
"We had a lot of good play this summer, where guys played consistent golf while posting some low rounds," Ben Hannan, who is entering his seventh year as head coach, commented. "Heading into the season, I think it shows the depth on this team and has created competition that should make everybody better."
The lone senior on the squad, Bussieres finished in a tie for 10th place at his final event of the summer - the Desjardins Montreal Open presented by Lexus - after posting three sub-70 rounds en route to a 13-under-par 271 total. He earned entry as an amateur player in the tournament after winning the Quebec Golf Association Amateur, closing out that event with rounds of 66 and 69 to claim the championship by four strokes.
Bussieres would place no lower than third in any of the first five events he played in after earning an at-large berth as an individual to the NCAA Southeast Regional. He shot a 66 to finish second overall and first among amateurs at the QGA Spring Open, then won five matches to earn the Provincial Match Play Championship. Bussieres would finish third in a field of 144 a month later at the Alexander of Tunis, and a week later he came in second in a field of the same size with rounds of 68 and 71 at the Duke of Kent. He also ended 25th out of 144 players at the Canadian Amateur Championship in August, closing out the event with three straight rounds of 72.
Junior Jack Hiluta played in events in three different countries since the end of the spring semester, beginning the summer by tying for 18th place at the French Amateur in May. He followed that up by placing third at the Prince of Wales Grand Challenge before finishing second in the stroke-play portion of the North of Ireland Amateur, where he would go on to win his first match - he shot a 66, his lowest score of the summer, in the second round of qualifying. Hiluta also advanced to the match-play portion of the English Amateur after carding a 69 in the second round of qualifying, advancing to the quarterfinals with three victories before finally facing elimination.
David Leathem, a sophomore on this year's squad, was unbeaten in eight interclub matches while also shooting a 69 to claim a competition at the Lisburn Golf Club. He also shot rounds of 72 and 73 at the East of Ireland Amateur Championship.
A couple of individuals who sat out last season, junior Christian Blanchet redshirt freshman Garth Boyd, also fared well over the summer. Blanchet finished sixth in qualifying for both the Southern and Florida State Amateurs after shooting a 72 in each of those rounds, while he fired a 72 in both the third and fourth rounds of the Southeastern Amateur. He also carded three rounds of 72 or lower at the Eastern Amateur, adding a 72 in qualifying for the United States Amateur as well. Boyd won four of six matches to place second at the Interpros competition in July, then fired a 68 - his lowest score of the offseason - to win the Donaghadee Scratch Cup.
Chris Piumelli, a sophomore transfer from South Carolina, began his summer by tying for 13th place at the New Jersey Amateur, with a low round of 71 in the event. He opened the Eastern Amateur with a 68, adding two other rounds of 72 or better for a top-50 finish among the field of 167 competitors, then tied for fourth in qualifying for the Florida Open. Piumelli added a 70 in the first of two rounds at a U.S. Amateur qualifier in Naples, Fla.
Chris Bockstael finished second twice in junior provincial events in Quebec, adding top-10 results at the QGA Spring Open - where he was ninth overall and second among amateurs behind Bussieres after collecting a 71 - and the Quebec Amateur. He shot a 72 in each of the final two rounds to place seventh in the latter event. Bockstael also shot a 70 on the final day of the Quebec Junior Championship to come in 13th place. The Jags' other two incoming freshman, Blake Kelley and McLain Leberte, each collected top-10 finishes over the summer as well. The former opened the Louisiana Four-Ball Championship with a 63, following up with a 67 to win the event that included 59 individuals in the field, and he also tied for sixth at the American Junior Golf Tour Coca Cola Stroke Play Championship after firing a 69 in the last round. The latter used a 69 on the final day of the Alabama State Amateur to tie for seventh place overall, and two weeks later he made the cut at the Greystone Invitational in Birmingham.
"One of the things that I stress to my incoming players is to try and play as big an amateur schedule as possible," Hannan said. "It helps get them acclimated to golf at the next level. The courses are longer, the fields are deeper - it's just altogether different from junior golf.
"There's a large jump from junior to amateur golf. Hopefully, the more exposed to it they are the better prepared they are when they get here. It's a learning curve to adjust to the collegiate game.
"The newcomers are talented and have played pretty well in qualifying since school started, but we'll have to wait and see if their performance this summer affects how they play this year."
USA will begin play at the Mason Rudolph Invitational - which will be hosted by Vanderbilt in Franklin, Tenn. - on Friday, with 54 holes played over three days. It will be the first of four fall events for the Jags, while will also compete in tournaments at Louisiana Tech, Memphis and LSU over a four-week stretch.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
-USA-
