NEW ORLEANS, La. - On a cold, windy day at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Mardi Gras Invitational, Austin Peay men's golf team closed its spring season's first tournament with a 329 to finish 14^th.

San Diego won the event with a three-round 870, three strokes ahead of second-place N.C. State (873). Host New Orleans (878) finished third, followed by Troy (879) and Arkansas-Little Rock (885) to round out the top five. San Diego's Alex Ching held on to his lead to win the tournament by four strokes with a three-round 207.

The conditions were harsh for an Austin Peay team that saw limited course time prior to the event. Played at the par-72, 6,931-yard, TPC Louisiana, hitting fairways was challenge enough for the Govs.

"The course was real tough off the tee on both sides," head coach Kirk Kayden said. "If you didn't get off well, you could find yourself in a lot of trouble and that's the position we were in most of the day. It got out of control and ended up with some big numbers."

Senior Erik Barnes posted the Govs best finish, t-46, with a three-round 231 (75-76-80) - his worst three-round total since the 2008 OVC Championship when he fired a 233. Freshman Dustin Korte, who made the trip after junior Brian Balthrop came up ill, Saturday, wasted a second-round 72 to finished t-57 (80-72-84=236). Junior Luke Sherrod  finished 62 (77-74-86=237), followed by sophomore Drew Miller (84-80-82=246) and Eric Anfinson (90-84-83=257).

Tuesday's round will go down, undoubtedly, as the worst four-player round in Kayden's tenure. It was the first time since taking over at Austin Peay the Govs have had to count four rounds in the 80s.

"We're looking at this from the point of view that we have to improve significantly between our first and second tournaments," Kayden said. "We're going to get some time outside - which we haven't had yet - and we'll keep working to get better. Good things will happen if we work hard."

-AP-