Bennett Posts Top-10 Finish For Cajuns at Lake Las Vegas

HENDERSON, Nevada – Kyle Bennett kept his streak of below-par rounds going after shooting a 1-under-par 71 to earn his second straight top-10 finish as the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Golf team finished fifth overall at the Lake Las Vegas Invitational on Wednesday at Reflection Bay Golf Club.

Malan Potgieter fired a 5-under-67 in the final round – his seventh time to finish in the 60's during the 2024-25 season – to post his sixth top-20 finish in seven events this season as Louisiana posted a team score of 2-under-286 for the round and 4-under-860 for the 54-hole event.

Bennett matched his 54-hole low as a Ragin' Cajuns finishing at 5-under-211 and tied for eighth-place in the field. His eagle at the par-4, 452-yard No. 16 was his second in as many days for the Ragin' Cajuns as he finished the back nine at 2-under-34 for the second consecutive round.

Potgieter was stellar on the front nine, shooting a 5-under-31 to move up 17 spots on the leaderboard and record his 16^th career top-20 finish. The junior posted a 3-under-213 overall to finish tied for 17^th overall.

Eli Ortego posted a 1-over-par 73 in the final round to finish at 4-over-220 with Jean Louis du Plessis finishing at 5-over-221 and Carter Schmitt 9-over-225. Dylan Keating wrapped up his first spring event with a 2-over-74 in the final round and 232 for the event.

Long Beach State claimed the tournament with a wire-to-wire finish, posting a 279 in the final round and finishing at 830 for the event. Northern Illinois was second in the 15-team field, finishing 25 strokes back at 855 with West Virginia surging to a third-place finish at 856. Stetson (857) and Louisiana (860) rounded out the top five with co-host Arkansas State (862), TCU (863), Texas State (866), Boise State (867) and DePaul (876) placing fifth through 10^th.

Charlie Forster of Long Beach claimed medalist honors after posting a 13-under-203 for the tournament and finishing four strokes ahead of teammate Alejandro De Castro and Stetson's Simon Engman.

Louisiana will resume play on March 10-11 when it hosts the 40^th annual Louisiana Classics at Oakbourne Country Club. The Ragin' Cajuns will host three-time defending champion Texas A&M as part of a 12-team field which includes LSU, Little Rock, Louisiana Tech, Rice, Texas State, South Alabama, Middle Tennessee, Sam Houston, Illinois State and Oral Roberts.

Admission to the event is free with the final round being streamed live on ESPN+.

Fans are encouraged to stay engaged with the Ragin' Cajuns by downloading the #GeauxCajuns app. Click here for iOS/Apple platforms and here for Android platforms.

Follow the Ragin' Cajuns on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (@RaginCajunsGolf) or check RaginCajuns.com for Louisiana golf updates.

LAKE LAS VEGAS INVITATIONAL
February 24-26, 2025
Henderson, Nevada (Reflection Bay Golf Club)
Par 72, 7,261 yards

TEAM SCORING
1. Long Beach State 277-274-279-830; 2. Northern Illinois 279-285-291-855; 3. West Virginia 296-284-276-856; 4. Stetson 292-277-288-857; 5. Louisiana 289-285-286-860; 6. Arkansas State 286-286-290-862; 7. TCU 300-275-288-863; 8. Texas State 292-286-288-866; 9. Boise State 295-281-291-867; 10. DePaul 293-290-293-876; 11. Kansas City 299-286-294-879; 12. Eastern Michigan 300-290-292-882; 13. Southern Illinois 299-296-301-896; 13. Long Island 300-294-303-897; 15. George Washington 307-290-313-910.

LOUISIANA INDIVIDUALS (* - competing as an individual)
T8. Kyle Bennett 69-71-71-211; T17. Malan Potgieter 76-70-67-213; T38. Eli Ortego 77-70-73-220; T42. Jean Louis du Plessis 68-76-77-221; T61. Carter Schmitt 76-74-75-225; 79. Dylan Keating * 80-78-74-232.

Bennett Posts Top-10 Finish For Cajuns at Lake Las Vegas

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Players Mentioned

Kyle Bennett

Jean Louis du Plessis

Dylan Keating

Eli Ortego

Malan Potgieter

Carter Schmitt