The Port Arthur News
April 01, 2008 09:40 pm
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Chris Stroud gets to play what is the PGA Tour’s equivalent of a home game this week, and he’s hoping familiarity with Redstone Golf Club helps shift his game into overdrive at the Shell Houston Open.
“This is going to be so cool,” said Stroud, who purchased a home in one of the developments within shouting distance of Redstone last summer. “Instead of living out of a suitcase, I have all my clothes to pick from, and I’m no more than five minutes from the golf course.”
Coming off a week in which he made the cut in New Orleans, the former Lamar University All America is somewhere between reserved and optimistic about his chances. It would be full blown optimism if he felt more comfortable with a driver that’s led to some army golf.
You know, left, right, left, right.
“Actually, I’ve been playing pretty well for a good while,” he said. “Not great, but solid. The problem is, I’ve been missing fairways on both sides and that’s a problem. I need to keep the ball from going left. I need to get the driver tweaked a bit. It’s a little too closed.”
Stroud, in nine events, has made four cuts and earned $100,703. That has him at No. 156 for on the money list. He knows it’s imperative that he start making an upward move real soon.
“The hardest thing is understanding you have to be patient and let things happen,” he said. “You just can’t force things to happen during a round. My sports psychologist has helped me with that and I did a better job of it last week in New Orleans.”
Other than not being more consistent with his driver, which has led to missed fairways and more bogeys than he normally makes, Stroud believes the rest of the game is solid and steady enough for him to break loose at any time.
“There is just such a fine line out here that separates being at the cut line and contending,” he said.
As far as Redstone is concerned, he thinks it’s the best conditioned course he’s played on the PGA Tour.
“They have it in awesome shape,” he said. “I played here three times during the week of Bay Hill and everything was perfect. The greens are super fast. They are trying to make the conditions as much like Augusta as they can and they have done a great job.
Stroud is part of a field that includes five of the top 10 rated players in the world. No 2 Phil Mickelson heads a list that boasts No. 4 Steve Stricker, No. 6 Adam Scott, who is the defending champion; No. 7 K.J. Choi and No. 10 Geoff Ogilvy.
Also in the field are popular Houston draws Fred Couples, John Daly and long-hitting Bubba Watson.
Stroud, meanwhile, is hoping the tweaked driver and comforts of home having him hanging somewhere near the top of the leaderboard come the weekend.
CHIP SHOTS: Mike Melancon of Groves hit the jackpot at L’Auberge in Lake Charles last week, but it didn’t happen inside the casino. Melancon scored his first ever hole in one on the adjacent Contraband Bayou Golf Course, using a 9-iron on the 147-yard, 2nd hole. Witnesses to the shot were Philip Losack, Paul Guilbeau and Leroy Falcon . . . Luther Childress of Beaumont, who is 74, shot his age on the Bayou Din Links and Front nines. His playing companion was Don Ames . . . Chris Stroud isn’t the only player with Southeast Texas ties playing in the Shell Houston Open. Orange’s Scott Sterling and Lamar graduate John Riegger are also in the field . . . PN-G golfer Trent Boudoin fired a 74 to win Boys 16-18 in the rescheduled Idylwild stop on the Southeast Texas PGA’s Junior Winter Tour. Boudoin finished four shots ahead of Jordan Soper. Other winners included Aaron Rogers (85 in Boys 14-15), Austin Duhon (77 in Boys 12-13), Blaire Brevell (101 in Girls 12-15), Thaine Tillie (44 in Boys 10-11), Carson Gautreaux (38 in Boys 8-9) and Megan Wilkinson (43 in Girls 8-9) . . . Mike Hebert carded a net 65 to win the Monday Seniors at Belle Oaks by three strokes over Charlie Hall. Norm Shannon finished third with a 69. Jim Robinson (No. 8) and Ben Fuller (No. 15) were closest to the pin winners . . . In the Monday Senior Game at Belle Oaks, Wally Istre and Rufus Mier tied for first with net 65s. Fuller and Robinson tied for third with 66s. Twyman Ash (No. 8) and Norm Pasche (No. 15) won closest to the pin . . . The Senior 65 Plus Game at Babe Zaharias was played in a Team Select Drive Format. Placing first with 28 points was the team of Tommy Trahan, Ben Thornton, Milton Hall and Leo Bacon. Second with 23 points was the foursome of Jim Burden, Bobby Hebert, Ken Cook and Johnny Walker. Closest to the pin winners were Don Nebel (No. 2), John Sullivan (No. 7), Ben Thornton (No. 12) and John Culbertson (No. 15) . . . The Patch Senior Game was played in a 2 Best Ball format. It was won by the team of David Girouard, Benny Epperson, Ron Theroit, Leo Back and Pau Bailey. They were minus 19. Second place at minus 13 went to the team of Richard McClelland, Carl Certa, Roland Geoffry, Cliff Mougia and D. Taylor . . . Jimmy Fetters shot a 75 to win medalist honors in The Patch Tuesday Game . . . The Babe Zaharias DogFight was won by the team of Ricky Brunner, Billy Thillet, Roger Baumer and Don Varing. They finished 20&9. Second at 19&7 was the team of Randy Monk, A. Allen, Clay Lewis and Art Miller. Closest to the hole winners were Adam Noel (No. 2, No. 12), Allen (No. 7) and Monk (No. 12) . . . The foursome of Kermit Reynolds, Kyle Mehl, Buddy Silcox and Richard Stevens won the Belle Oaks DogFight at 21&8. Second place at 18&8 went to the team of Richard Briggs, Mitch Priddy, Kyle Mehl and Charlie Huckaby. Reynolds (No. 8) and Mehl (No. 15) were closest to the pin winners . . . Playing a two best ball format, the Homberg team of Jo Ann Fournier, Linda Hebert, Jean Green and Mimi Rose won low gross with a 154 in the TexLa Laides Team play held at Henry Homberg Golf Course. Second at 158 went to the Homberg team of Jenny Shuffield, Karen Cutrer, Becky Eismon and Cindy Wilkinson. The Idylwild team of Beverly Leger, Peggy Kilgore and May Taylor won low net at 121. The DERA team of Margaret Griffin, Dixie Trahan, Jo Ann Alford and Martha Hall was second in low net at 122. Closest to the pin winners were Trahan (No. 6), Hall (No. 8), Taylor (No. 12) and Hebert (No. 17).
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