BATON ROUGE, La. – Chris Piumelli fired a season-best 4-under-par 68 Tuesday, with Jack Hiluta and Christian Blanchet also carding sub-par rounds to lead the University of South Alabama men’s golf to a third-place finish at Louisiana State’s David Toms Intercollegiate.

It’s the best result for the Jaguars in four events this fall, as USA shot under par as a team in all three rounds of the event for a 9-under-par 855 total; only No. 3 LSU (16-under-par 848) and 10th-ranked Arkansas (14-under-par 850) finished ahead of the Jags in the field of 14 teams, which included nine teams in the Golfweek/Sagarin top 100.  And USA’s 3-under-par 285 score over the last 18 holes was one more than the Razorbacks for the low round of the day.

Entering play tied for 15th place, Piumelli used five birdies to offset only one bogey at the par-72, 6,849-yard Country Club of Louisiana and move up into a four-way tie for second with a 6-under-par 210 total.  He birdied the second hole, but a five on No. 4 moved him back to even par for the round.  Piumelli would then birdie the seventh and eighth holes — both par fours — to make the turn 2-under par, and he added birdies on Nos. 11 and 16 for his lowest 18-hole score since firing a 66 in the second round of the NCAA Southeast Regional last May.

The 54-hole score was Piumelli’s best since joining the program last fall, while it was his first top-10 finish since tying for eighth last March at the Rio Pinar Invitational.  For the week, he tied for third with a 3-under-par total on par-four holes and was also among the tournament leaders playing 4-under-par on the par fives.

“I was really solid from tee to green, but more than anything I executed my plan well,” said the junior.  “I tried to give myself a bunch of opportunities, and did a good job of that hitting a bunch of balls close from the first hole to the last, and I kept the ball in front of me for the most part as well.

“This was definitely the best 54 holes I’ve played here, I was solid all week from the beginning to the end.  I’ve had some good rounds — including a fantastic one at the regional last year — but here I was in the game the entire time, which is what I’m always trying to do.  I was proud that I was able to accomplish that this week.”

Hiluta also had his best round of the season, using a 3-under-par 69 to move up 18 spots into a tie for 23rd place.  It was the first time this season that he has finished at even-par over 54 holes after posting a three-round 216 total, as he tied for the tournament lead with 17 birdies and a 3-under-par score on par-three holes over the two days.

That included seven birdies in the final round, as he posted three in a row from Nos. 5-7 and three more during a five-hole stretch beginning on the ninth; after a two at the 185-yard 13th, Hiluta was at 5-under par for the day.

Blanchet’s final-round 1-under-par 71 gave him a score of 215 for the event and his second top-20 result of the fall after he climbed into a tie for 20th place.  He bogeyed the par-three third hole, and was still 1-over par at the turn before birdying both Nos. 10 and 11.  Blanchet tied for third at the event with 39 pars on his scorecard, and he was among the leaders on both par-three and par-five holes after playing both below par.

McLain Leberte tied for 37th in the field of 78 with a 219 54-hole total after shooting a 79 on the final day, while Blake Kelley had a 77 over the last 18 holes and posted a 226 score to tie for 50th place.  The former had three birdies in the final round, finishing among the tournament leaders with 13 overall, and the latter tied for third on par-five holes with a 6-under-par total.

“Once we saw the golf course, we knew that the greens would be receptive, and the guys had good game plans individually,” USA head coach Ben Hannan observed.  “It was a game of execution, which everyone did very well.  They were feeding off of each other, and throughout the week each individual had times were they were playing great golf, which helps.  But more than anything, I think they have continued our process of getting better each and every week.”

Austin Gutgsell of LSU, playing as an individual, was the medalist with three rounds in the 60s, as he recorded a 10-under-par 206 total after shooting a 69 in the final round.

The Jaguars’ 855 total matched the third-lowest posted in a tournament outside of Mobile since the 1992-93 season, and was the seventh-best 54-hole score overall during that time frame.

USA will close out the fall season at the Memphis Intercollegiate, which will begin play with 36 holes on Monday and include the final round the following morning.  The Jaguars are the event’s defending champions after earning a five-stroke victory over a field of 16 schools with a 54-hole 882 total last year.

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—

David Toms Intercollegiate
Colonial Country Club of Louisiana, Baton Rouge, La.
Par 72, 6,849 yards

Team Scores: 1) Louisiana State 283-276-289—848 (-16); 2) Arkansas 283-283-284—850; 3) South Alabama 284-286-285—855; T4) Middle Tennessee 287-282-297—866;  T4) North Florida 288-285-293—866; 6) Southeastern Louisiana 300-279-294—873; 7) Mississippi 288-295-291—874; 8) Louisiana-Lafayette 293-289-293—875; 9) Kansas State 301-288-287—876; 10) Mississippi State 293-285-301—879; 11) UAB 297-291-295—883; 12) Louisiana Tech 294-291-303—888; 13) Georgia Southern 304-289-299—892; 14) Rice 287-304-302—893.

Individual Leaders: 1) Austin Gutgsell, LSU* 69-68-69—206 (-10); T2) Chris Piumelli, USA 70-72-68—210; T2) John Peterson, LSU 73-67-70—210; T2) Ethan Tracy, Ark 70-69-71—210; T2) Ken Looper, LSU 70-67-73—210; T6) Jack Watson, KSU 70-70-71—211; T6) Cedric Scotto, SLU 75-67-69—211; T8) four players with 212.
*Competing as an individual

South Alabama Scores: T2) Chris Piumelli 70-72-68—210 (-6); T20) Christian Blanchet 72-72-71—215; T23) Jack Hiluta 76-71-69—216; T37) McLain Leberte 69-71-79—219; T50) Blake Kelley 73-76-77—226.