More Cajun success

UL’s golf team is still basking in the glow of its first tournament win in five years, having won the Lake Charles Invitational one week ago over a field that included No. 39-ranked Marquette.

Much of that team success came on the shoulders of sophomore Jack Tolson, the Lafayette product and former Westminster Christian standout who posted a sterling 67-66-68—201 individual score to win medalist honors. At the time, it was listed as the best score for a Cajun player in at least a quarter-century.

It still stands that way, and now that number can be stretched to a half-century. That score also rekindled the memories of some former UL golf standouts and long-time Cajun supporters and followers, and returned one long-ago performance to light.

The then-Bulldogs won the Gulf States Conference team championship in 1965, its first-ever conference championship in golf with athletic director Whitey Urban as head coach. The squad also boasted the individual winner in the legendary Buddy Short, who won that title 53 years ago with a very-similar 66-67-68—201 score.

Short’s score was the lowest 54-hole score for a UL player in recorded history, so Tolson’s 201 matched that total and put him in some exclusive company. He was also honored as the Sun Belt Conference’s Golfer of the week after winning medalist honors by a four-stroke margin and nearly doubling his previous total of rounds in the 60s (four).

Tolson, who had 19 birdies over the three rounds, now has two top-10 finishes and three top-25s this year and took the first individual win for the Cajuns since Haraldur Magnus won the Border Olympics in 2016.

UL’s squad return to action Saturday in the Southern Collegiate Match Play hosted by Southern Miss at the Hattiesburg Country Club and joining South Alabama, Louisiana Tech and the host Golden Eagles.

PETE Tournament

The Supporters of the UL Petroleum Engineering Department will hold its annual fundraiser tournament in less than two weeks, on April 16, at Le Triomphe. The four-person scramble has registration and lunch beginning at 10:30 a.m. before a shotgun start at noon.

The event has raised tens of thousands of dollars during its existence to improve educational facilities in the petroleum engineering program, including lab renovations and upgrading of teaching tools, upgrading classrooms and acquiring state-of-the-art learning tools for both professors and students. Some of the newest and latest innovations and technology are available to more than 450 UL students in that department because of funds raised from previous events.

The field is limited to the first 36 teams to enter. Entry fee is $1,000 per four-person team including gift bags, hole prizes, lunch and dinner and course food and beverages. Sponsorship levels are available from $250 to $10,000. More information on the tournament is available from chairman Jimmy McCartney at (337) 298-7070 or at geauxgolf@cox.net.

“Making the Turn” appears Wednesday in the Daily Advertiser. Clubs, courses and individuals with information about local golf events may email Dan McDonald, editorial director at Golfballs.com, at danmcdonald@cox.net, FAX to (337) 857-8763 or call (337) 857-8754 and leave a message with phone number.