It was another impressive week for Port Neches-Groves ex Braden Bailey and
the ever-rising Baylor golf team.
The Bears, who have climbed to No. 4 in Golfweek’s rankings, shot a team
total of 33-under-par 831 to win the Linger Longer Invitational at Great
Waters Golf Club in Eatonton, Ga. No. 8  Virginia placed second, 15 shots
behind Baylor. No. 20 Georgia was seven more strokes back in third.
Bailey carded rounds of 67-69-70 (206) on the par 72 course to tie for
third overall in the field of 80 players. Georgia’s Greyson Sigg was medalist
at 200, with Baylor’s Matthew Perrine second at 205.
All four Baylor players finished in the top 10 and all four were under par.
The Bears have now won three of their last four tournaments and placed second
in the other one. They next play in Texas A&M’s tournament April 1-2.
Bailey continued to dominated with his length off the tee, tying for third
in par 5 scoring and tying for most birdies with 17. His stroke average for 21
tournament rounds is 70.0.
CHIP SHOTS: Playing golf at Babe Zaharias on Saturday turned into a
memorable experience for Ethan Demeter of Houston. Demeter, 30, scored his
second hole in one when he sank his tee shot from 155-yards on No. 2. The
money club was an 8-iron. Witnesses were Joe Demeter and Tyler Childs . . .
Next week’s Shell Houston Open picked up commitments from two more players
ranked in the world top 10. The additions are No. 5 Henrik Stenson and No. 9
Rickie Fowler. Already on board were No. 1 Dustin Johnson, No.6 Jordan Spieth
and No. 8 Adam Scott. No. 19 Phil Mickelson also committed early.
In case you missed it last week, PN-G and Lamar ex Chris Stroud will be in
the SHO field on a sponsor’s exemption. Stroud is tuning up this week in the
Puerto Rico Open. Also in the Puerto Rico field is Stroud’s former Lamar
teammate, Shawn Stefani . . .
PN-G ex Andrew Landry, who stands No. 3 on the Web.com Tour money list, is
playing down Interstate 10 this week in the Chitimacha Louisiana Open. Le
Triomphe Golf Club in Broussard, which is just outside Lafayette, is the host
course . . .
Josh Elmore claimed medalist honors with a four-over-par 76 Tuesday to help
Port Neches-Groves cruise to an 18-shot victory in the Warren Invitational at
Wildwood Golf Club. Vidor was second at 350 and West Brook third at 358.
Backing up Elmore, who won by five strokes, was Chase Selman with an 82.
Other PN-G scores were Bryce Parsley’s 85 and Timothy Feemster’s 89. Brian
Landry’s 95 did not count on the team total . . .
Five-under-par was the winning score on both nines in Monday’s Senior 50
Plus Game at Babe Zaharias. The front went to the team of Rick Pritchett, Cap
Hollier, Russ Gloede and John Ramey, while the foursome of Benny Sharpe, Tony
Trevino, Dillard Darbonne and Jim Mercer posted the winning number on the back
. . .
There were ties on both the front and back nine in the Saturday Super
Senior 2 ball game at The Babe. On the front, the team of Javier Torres,
Vincent Barajas, Gary Fontenot and Mike Tibbetts matched the 5 under posted by
the team of Pritchett, Gary Hanan, Thad Borne and Dan Flood.
Tying at three under on the back was the foursome of Bob West, Don MacNeil,
Bim Morrow and John Jessen and the team of Craig Fontenot, Ed Holley, Gene
Jones and Gary Green . . .
In the Friday 2 ball at The Babe, the team of Peanut Lawson, Bob Wactor,
Mike Tibbets and Jessen claimed the front with minus 3. On the back, teams
captained by Sharpe, Craig Fontenot and Jim Huebel tied at minus 2 . . .
The Thursday Senior 55 Plus Game at Zaharias was played in a 6-6-6 format.
In First Flight, the team of Mike Lansford-E.T. Robiceaux tied with the duo of
Joe Gongora-Don MacNeil at 70. Jessen-Bill Jones won Second Flight with a 73.
There was a tie at 78 in Third Flight between the team of Green-Stedman
Tahaney and Paul Duplantis-Harold Wilkinson.
Closest to the pin winners were Larry Rogers (No. 2), Earl Richard (No. 7),
Raymond Darbonne (No. 12) and Lansford (No. 15) . . .
Fifteen points won the Babe Zaharias DogFight for the team of Hollier, Lee
Bertrand, Gerald Thompson and Ben Thornton. Placing second with 14 points was
the foursome of Raymond Darbonne, Larry Reece, Green and Rogers.
Closest to the pin winners were Darbonne (No. 2, No. 15), Charlie Leard
(No. 7) and Robiceaux (No. 12) . . .
Golf news should be e-mailed to rdwest@usa.net.