LAFAYETTE, La. – Tyler Klava and Lane Hulse recorded top-20 finishes to pace the University of South Alabama men’s golf team at the 27th annual Louisiana Classics.

The former carded a 75 over the final 18 holes Tuesday, ending in a tie for 12th place with a 1-under-par 215 total, and the latter tied for 17th two strokes behind after a final-round 74.  It was Klava’s team-leading fourth top-20 performance of the season, while Hulse is the only other Jaguar to accomplish the feat on multiple occasions as his picked up his third of the year.

“Tyler finished with a birdie on the last hole.  He was 2-over par early in his round and just battled,” commented Jag head coach Ben Hannan.  “It was the same for Lane, he bogeyed the first two holes.  Both those guys — outside of the first round when they opened under par — really battled.  They didn’t have a lot going over the last 36 holes, but fought hard and turned in good showings, respectively, relative to this field and the competition.”

Michael Garretson led USA with a 1-over-par 73 in the last round of the tournament, tying for 37th place in the field of 84 individuals with a 54-hole 220 total, while McLain Leberte carded his third straight round of 75 and Parker Jones had a 77.  Jones’ 224 three-round score was good for a tie for 54th place, and Leberte tied for 58th at 225.

And, David Leathem carded an even-par 72 — his second straight in the tournament — to tie for 23rd place with a 218 total; that led the nine players competing in the event as an individual.

The Jags were 10th out of the 15 schools in the field, posting an 874 team total after shooting 297 on the last day.  Lousiana State, the 14th-ranked squad in the nation entering play, used a 3-under-par 285 for a three-round 17-under-par 847 score to win the title.  The Tigers finished 14 shots ahead of both Southern Methodist and Tulsa, the only other schools to end the tournament below par.

Andrew Presley of LSU finished with a 10-under-par 206 54-hole score after shooting a 2-under-par 70 in the final round to earn medalist honors.  He won the individual title by three strokes.

“It was much more difficult today with the wind, which was blowing significantly harder and gusting at times from the opening tee shot,” Hannan explained.  “The pins were consistently harder too, which made patience a must.  We got off to a bit of a rough start — we had a couple of bogeys and a double bogey to open, so we got down early.  Through the middle holes the guys really battled and made some birdies to get back into the mix around fifth, sixth place, but with the shotgun start we closed with a difficult run and just made a few bogeys coming in.”

Garretson led the Jaguars most of the day at the par-72, 6,898-yard Oakbourne Country Club, birdying his second hole with a three at the 342-yard 10th to get to 1-under par.  He played the back side of the course at even par, and added another birdie on No. 1, to move up seven spots in the individual standings.

Hulse had his lone birdie of the day at No. 14, a par-four hole that played at 404 yards; after bogeys on each of the first two holes, he was at even par the rest of the day.  Klava birdied three of his final six holes — he was 1-under-par on the front side of the course on the day — while Leberte had birdies on Nos. 3 and 6 to match Klava’s final-round score.

Jones equaled Klava with three birdies to lead the team in the category on the last day of the tournament, with two coming on a three-hole stretch with a four at the 13th and a two on the 195-yard 15th.  Leathem was 2 over through 10 holes, but with birdies on Nos. 10 and 13 — the latter played at 599 yards — he finished the back side of the course at 2-under par to match his low round of the year first recorded on Monday afternoon.

“All in all, it was a positive experience; the guys were leading after the first round,” said Hannan.  “We’ll take this experience and build on it for the Linger Longer.”

The Jaguars will be off until the final weekend of March, when they participate in the Linger Longer Invitational in Eatonton, Ga.

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—

27th annual Louisiana Classics
Oakbourne Country Club, Lafayette, La.
Par 72, 6,898 yards
Team Scores: 1) Louisiana State 283-279-285—847 (-17); T2) Tulsa 290-284-287—861; T2) Southern Methodist 285-284-292—861; 4) Kent State 285-281-299—865; 5) Memphis 284-283-299—866; 6) Louisiana-Lafayette 289-287-292—868; 7) Southeastern Louisiana 291-285-294—870; T8) Texas State 295-282-295—872; T8) Houston 288-290-294—872; 10) South Alabama 283-294-297—874; 11) Illinois 287-297-301—885; 12) Southern Mississippi 299-288-299—886; T13) Kansas 297-284-306—887; T13) Texas-San Antonio 294-293-300—887; 15) North Carolina State 289-295-309—893.

Individual Leaders: 1) Andrew Presley, LSU 68-68-70—206 (-10); 2) Sang Yi, LSU 71-67-71—209; 3) Philipp Fendt, ULL 73-68-69—210; T4) Luke Guthrie, UI 69-71-72—212; T4) Matt Mabrey, Tulsa 73-68-71—212; T6) Juan Carlos Benitez, TSU 74-67-72—213; T6) Jack Belote, UM 67-73-73—213; T6) Rhys West, SLU 72-68-73—213; T6) James Ross, UH 71-69-73—213; T10) Ryan Were, UTSA 72-70-72—214; T10) Grant Milner, UM 69-70-75—214.

South Alabama Scores: T12) Tyler Klava 68-72-75—215 (-1) ; T17) Lane Hulse 70-73-74—217; T23) David Leathem* 74-72-72—218; T37) Michael Garretson 73-74-73—220; T54) Parker Jones 72-75-77—224; T58) McLain Leberte 75-75-75—225.
*denotes playing as an individual