Seath Lauer fnished a tied for third place at the Olympia Fields Invitational.

Lauer earns best finish of his career.

Sept. 20, 2009

OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. - Florida State University senior Seath Lauer finished in a career-best tied for third place in the individual standings and the No. 25 Seminole men's golf team finished in fifth place in the team standings as play in the Olympia Fields Invitational came to a close on Sunday. The finish was Lauer's best since finishing in a tie for fourth place at the Linger Longer Invitational during the spring of 2007 while the team finish marked the second consecutive top-five finish for the Seminoles this fall. Florida State claimed the team championship at the GolfWeek Conference Challenge to open the fall season.

Arizona State, which is ranked No. 6 is this week's GolfWord/Nike Coaches' Poll, won the team championship with a two stroke victory over No. 1 ranked Oklahoma State. The Cowboys made up four shots in the final round but fell just short of overtaking the Sun Devils. The Seminoles finished in fifth place behind the No. 6 Sun Devils, No. 1 Oklahoma State, No. 23 Texas and No. 5 Stanford. The Seminoles finished ahead of No. 3 Georgia, No. 9 Florida, No. 10 Southern Cal and No. 12 Illinois.

Lauer (Huntington, Ind.) finished with a three-over par score of 213 in earning the second top five finish of his career. He spent the entire tournament in the top four of the individual standings as he finished with scores of 68-71-74. Lauer was below par for more than half of the tournament after coming within one stroke of tying his career-best with a 68 in the first round.

Lauer has now earned two top-10 individual finishes this fall with his tied for third place finish in this event and a tied for ninth place finish in the season-opening GolfWeek Conference Challenge. He has now earned consecutive top-10 finishes for the second time in his career.

Sophomore Brooks Koepka (Wellington, Fla.) shot a 73 in the final round and finished with a 220 total for the 54-hole event. He finished in a tie for 19th place in his first event of the fall and has now finished in the top 20 of five of his last six events.

Freshman Doug Letson (Tampa, Fla.) and junior Drew Kittleson (Scottsdale, Ariz.) played the best final rounds for the Seminoles and carded identical scores of tow-over par 72. Letson finished tied for 24th in the individual standings with a 221 total to earn the second top 20 finish in his second career collegiate event. Kittleson finished with a 223 total and tied for 32nd in the individual standings. He was the co-medalist at the season-opening GolfWeek Conference Challenge. Sophomore Wesley Graham (Port Orange, Fla.) finished tied for 57th place.

Florida State plays in its third of four fall events as it travels to the Gary Koch Invitational at the Old Memorial Golf Course in Tampa Oct. 3-4.

Olympia Fields Invitational/Par 70/Sept. 18-20, 2009
Olympia Fields Country Club/Olympia Fields, Ill/Final Florida State Results
5/15.   Florida State    288   298   291   877
T3.     Seath Lauer      68    71    74    213
T19.    Brooks Koepka    72    75    73    220
T24.    Doug Letson      73    76    72    221
T32.    Drew Kittleson   75    76    72    223
T57.    Wesley Graham    78    76    78    232

Olympia Fields Invitational/Par 70/Sept. 18-20, 2009
Olympia Fields Country Club/Olympia Fields, Ill/Final Team Results
1.   Arizona State    870   T8.   Georgia          883
2.   Oklahoma State   872   10.   Augusta State    895
3.   Texas            875   11.   San Diego St.    901
4.   Stanford         876   12.   Northwestern     904
5.   Florida State    877   T13.  Indiana          905
6.   Florida          878   T13.  Wake Forest      905
7.   Illinois         882   15.   Purdue           922
T8.  Southern Cal.    883