Texas-Louisiana Junior Tour gets good reviews Despite intermittent rain delays in Lake Charles that required every minute of daylight to complete play, the initial event in the inaugural Texas-Louisiana Junior Tour Saturday at Gray Plantation drew positive reviews from its organizers.
“I am really pleased,” said Jerry Honza, executive director of The First Tee of the Golden Triangle. “We had 61 players sign up and 55 of them played. Golfers from both Texas and Louisiana had strong showings. Hopefully this is something we can build on.”
“I am thrilled to death with the turnout,” said Babe Zaharias pro Ed Campbell. “It is a terrific start. We got a lot of positive feedback from the Louisiana people who had never played in one of our events. This tour is a real positive for the kids who participated.”
The second of four tournaments is set for Saturday at Idylwild Golf Club in Sour Lake. Entry deadline is Wednesday at 5 p.m. Players can register by calling the Babe Zaharias Golf Shop at (409)722-8286 or e-mailing Honza at jhon@pga.com. Entry fee is $20. Team competition ended in a 4-4 tie, with players from Louisiana winning two of the three boys’ flights and two of three girls’ flights, while Texans won both of the co-ed flights.
One point is awarded to the state of a player who wins a flight.
PN-G’s Karlei Hemler, rebounding from a disappointing showing in her first high school tournament of 2016, delivered the most impressive performance. Hemler fired a three-over par 75 to win Girls 16-18 by 13 shots over Lady Indians teammate Brynna Bailey.
Other Texas players who won their flights were Jack Burke of LC-M, whose 79 bested Kountze’s Micah DePew by 8 strokes in Boys 12-13, Xander Parks of Orangefield, a 13-stroke winner over Isabella Bradley of Lake Charles in Co-Ed 10-11 and Chase Peddy of Groves, a one-shot victor over Lincoln Parks of Orangefield in Co-Ed 7-9. Louisiana winners included the Lake Charles duo of Logan Kuehn and Jacob Santacoloma with 75s in Boys’ 16-18. Brayden Wright of Sulphur (76) bested Collin Todora of Port Arthur (80) in Boys’ 14-15. In Girls 14-15, Daphney Tilton of Iowa edged Elizabeth Townsend of Kountze by two strokes with an 85. Makenzie Leduff of Lake Charles easily won Girls 12-13 with a 94.
CHIP SHOTS: It was another bad week on pro tours for golfers with Southeast Texas ties, with all four who were playing — Chris Stroud and Shawn Stefani on the PGA Tour and Michael Arnaud and Anthony Brossard on the Web.Com Tour — missing the cut. Stroud is the only one who came close, and the way he missed was nightmarish. The PN-G ex had overcome an opening 73 in which we went double bogey-triple bogey on the 11th and 12th holes, and was one-under the cut line coming to the 36th hole. After getting his tee shot in the fairway some 190-yards from the green, Stroud left his second in the greenside bunker, made double bogey from there and missed his fourth cut in the last five tournaments by one stroke. Such a confidence-shattering finish is bound to test the mental toughness that has long been one of Chris’ strong suits . . .
The PGA Tour is at Pebble Beach this week, with Stroud, Dawie van der Walt and Andrew Landry in the field. Landry will be trying to make his first PGA Tour cut, having gone 0-for-5 in the 2015-16 season Play on the Web.com doesn’t resume until mid March . . .
Former PN-G star Braden Bailey bounced back from a morning 78 to post a four-under-par 67 Monday afternoon to help Baylor share the 36-hole lead with Oklahoma in the UT-San Antonio Invitational at Oak Hill Country Club in the Alamo City. Bailey was T13 overall in a field of 84 players at the 36-hole mark. The final 18 holes were to be played Tuesday . . .
PN-G’s girls team won twice in six days, taking the Hardin-Jefferson tournament Monday in gusty winds at Idylwild, after prevailing in the Anahuac Invitational last Wednesday at Chambers County Golf Club. At Idylwild, the Lady Indians topped LC-M by 19 shots with a 377. Hemler led the way with a 74, but lost a playoff to LC-M’s Lauren Cox for medalist honors. Other scores for the Lady Indians included an 86 by Brynna Bailey, a 101 by Kensey Dukes and a 116 by Rian Weatherford. Bailey, meanwhile, fired a personal best 77 to pace the victory at Chambers County. Hemler shot 79, Weatherford added a 97 and Dukes finished with a 104. PN-G’s team total was 357. Bailey was second to Cox’s 71 in medalist play . . . There were ties on both sides in the Super Saturday Game at The Babe, with the team of Craig Fontenot, Rick Pritchett, Wes McGuire and Robert Lynch and the foursome of Adam Noel, Thad Borne, Jay Hampson and Tommy Duhon posting even par on the front and the back. It was a two best-ball format . . .
In the Friday Game at Zaharias, also played in a two-ball, the team of Noel, Bob Barnes, Ron Mistrot and Dillard Darbonne tied the foursome of Paul Flores, Tom LeTourneau, Harry Green and Charlie Huckaby at minus 3. That was also the winning score for the team of Rick Pritchett, Brad Royer, Harrell Guidry and Gene Hardy on the back . . The Thursday Senior Game at The Babe was played in three best-ball format and ended in a three-way tie at minus 9. Included was the team of Joe Gongora, Lee Bertrand, Huckaby and Jess McPhillips, the foursome of Pritchett, Green, Bobby Kimball and Ron Overstreet and the team of Cap Hollier, Guidry, Larry Rogers and Lynch. Closest to the pin winners were Pritchett (No. 2), Guidry (No. 7, No. 15) and Huckaby (No. 12) . . .
The Babe Zaharias DogFight was won with 17 points by the team of David Evans, Don MacNeil, Jim Cooper and Ron Overstreet. Second with 15 points was the foursome of Pritchett, LeTourneau, Brad Royer and Jobie Irving. Closest to the pin winners were MacNeil (No. 2), Bill Jones (No. 7), Buddy Sepeda (No. 12) and Harold Wilkinson (No. 15).
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