Other than the 15 inches of rain that left area courses underwater last week, the big news in Southeast Texas golf was Ricky Keyes stepping down after nine years as head coach at Port Neches-Groves.

Keyes, who said he was moving on to pursue other business interests, was quickly replaced by one of the most familiar names in area golf circles — Jerry Honza.

Honza originally came here as the head pro at the now closed Belle Oaks Golf Club. He helped found and oversee the First Tee of the Golden Triangle and has been active for years with the Southern Texas PGA Junior golf circuit.

As Honza knows, becoming head coach at Port Neches-Groves is considerably different than taking over any other program in the area. The Indians have long dominated the high school golf scene and are expected to win.

They were already a power when Keyes took over and he helped them become a dynasty of sorts. Keyes’ PNG teams, with a big boost from Braden Bailey, won nine consecutive district championships.
Three of his teams advanced to state and he went to state with three other players as individual qualifers.

The most recent of those three, junior-to-be Timothy Feemster, will be the centerpiece of Honza’s first team. Feemster was recently named the area’s high school player of the year by the Southeast Texas Coaches Association.

CHIP SHOTS

It was a rare collective bad week for the former PNG trio of Chris Stroud, Andrew Landry and Braden Bailey, with all three missing cuts.

Stroud, playing for the first time in three weeks after having to withdraw due to a knee injury in Fort Worth, shot 142 (72-70) in the Travelers Championship. The Travelers, of course, is where Chris nearly won for the first time three years ago before losing to Ken Duke in a playoff.

Stroud, who has made 10 of 20 cuts this season, is No. 164 in FedEx points. He’s going to need a couple of high finishes to make it into the playoffs.

Landry had a wild two days in the Travelers, opening with an 81 before rebounding with a 67. It continued a rough stretch for Andrew since he won the Valero Texas Open. In individual events since, then he’s only made two of five cuts and not been able to finish better than a T65.

Thanks, however, to an early-season second place and the Valero win, he’s still No. 22 in FedEx points. Both Landry and Stroud are playing in Tiger Woods’ Quicken Loans National in Potomac, Maryland this week.

Bailey, meanwhile, found himself struggling for the second consecutive week in a high profile amateur event in the Northeast. He missed the 54-hole cut in the Northeast Amateur in Rhode Island on rounds of 72-82-75. The week before the Baylor senior-to-be shot 73-78-77 in the Sunnehanna Amateur. …

Nederland’s Jadon Bell shot a two-over par 73 Monday to score a one-stroke victory in the Southern Texas PGA’s Junior Tour stop at Beaumont Country Club. Finishing at 74 was the trio of Bryce Parsley, Brendan Marley and Henry LeDuc.

Other flight winners included Cari Denson (83 in Girls 15-18), Connor Denson (80 in Boys 13-14), Montana DiLeo (87 in Girls 13-14) and Lincoln Parks (80 in Boys 11-12).

Next stop for the Junior Tour is Wildwood’s Junior Ole Glory on Monday. Players can register at stpgajuniorgolf.com. …

Dalton Shields fired a three-over 75 to win Boys Golf in the Beltway Junior Tour tournament Tuesday at Brentwood Country Club. Jason Adams was the runner-up at 89. Logan Landry carded a 95 to edge Haden Glaze by one stroke in Boys Silver. …

The team of Gary Fontenot, Bill Hanley, Don MacNeil and Carl Certa scored a sweep in the Monday Senior 50 Plus 2 ball game at Zaharias. They were minus 3 on the front and minus 2 on the back. …

In the Super Saturday 2 ball at the Babe, the team of Cricket Owen, Lee Bertrand, Pete Reobroi and John Veillon won the front with minus 1. On the back, even par won for the foursome of Ron Carlin, MacNeil, James Trahan and Stuart Ellis. …

The Super Saturday 2 ball from June 16 saw the team of Craig Fontenot, Parris Dewall, Tom LeTourneau and Dan Flood win the front with minus 2. On the back the team of Ed Holley, Thad Borne, Reobroi and Charles Leard came out on top with minus 5. …

In the June 15 2 ball at Zaharias, the foursome of Cap Hollier, James Shipey, Bob Byerly and a ghost player prevailed with minus 5. Minus 5 was also the winning score on the back for the team of Earl Richard, Ron LaSalle, LeTourneau and Dwayne Benoit. …

The June 14 Senior Game was played in a 3-man scramble format. Winning with minus 13 was the team of Benny Sharpe, Bill Jones and Eddie Delk. There was a three-way tie for second between teams captained by Hollier, Richard and Joe Gongora.

Closest to the pin winners were Gongora (No. 7) and Delk (No. 12). …

In the June 13 Zaharias DogFight, the team of Gary Whitfill, MacNeil, Keith Marshall and a ghost player was part of a three-way tie for first with 16 points.

Also getting to 16 was the team of Rick Pritchett, Raymond Darbonne, Mike Rodgers and Sid Ducote and the foursome of Cricket Owen, Troy Touchet, Wes McGuire and Robert Lynch.

Closest to the pin winners were Gerald Huebel (No. 2), Rodgers (No. 7), Leard (No. 12) and Owen (No. 15).

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