Garon, who signed with the Ragin’ Cajuns last fall out of Meridian (Miss.)
Community College and will enroll at UL in August, was one of five
recipients of the Nicklaus award, which goes to the top players in the NCAA
Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA and junior college
ranks.

"It was just an absolute, unbelievable honor," said Garon, who was in
Lafayette last weekend to play in the State Amateur. "To win an award named
after someone like that … it was really incredible."

It wasn’t like Garon just got a plaque in the mail. He was handed the award
by Nicklaus himself … at a luncheon in their honor … at Muirfield Village,
right in the "Bear Tracks" … at Nicklaus’ own Memorial Tournament.

Garon and the other award winners – Patrick Cantlay of UCLA, Alex Carpenter
of Abilene Christian, Chris Morris of Centre, and Oscar Stark of Oklahoma
Christian – were the honorees at a luncheon at the world-renowned Muirfield
Village Golf Resort in Dublin, Ohio during The Memorial Tournament.

The whirlwind trip included a couple of days on the course during the
tournament, a tour of the television compound including the 18th-hole booth,
recognition during the national broadcast and the awards luncheon. But to
Garon, the best part was an hour-long chat with just the five winners and
the "Golden Bear" himself.

"What a great guy," Garon said of Nicklaus. "We met him at the course, and
he spent a good 45 minutes talking to us just about golf. We toured the
course and the club, went up in the announcer booth and got to see what goes
on up there … it was all really special."

Garon burst into prominence last spring when he won the National Junior
College Athletic Association national title, and followed up with a 2011
campaign that included four individual wins. One of those came when Meridian
was invited to an NCAA Division I tournament, the Red Wolf Intercollegiate
hosted by Arkansas State where the Cajuns also participated.

"He’s going to bring something special to our team," Sliman said. "I saw him
at one of the state championship tournaments in Alexandria when he was in
high school and he was very solid. He was a good player out of high school,
but he became a very good player in junior college. I think he shocked even
himself."

Garon also won the Wallace State Invitational, the Preview at the Point and
the NJCAA District IV Championship this year. He helped Meridian to as high
as a No. 2 national ranking during the year, but he was less than satisfied
in this year’s national meet in Odessa, Texas, where he finished 29th
overall and Meridian finished a disappointing seventh as a team.

"We had high expectations," he said, "but the conditions there we just weren’t
used to. The winds were howling and the course was very different. But the
spring for us coming into nationals was great … our team really came
together.

"It was a lot more important for me that our team do well. It’s a team
event, not an individual one, and all I wanted to do was help our team."
Sliman knows that attitude will help the Cajun squad beginning this fall.

"I absolutely expect him to step in and have a major impact," he said. "Our
one through five spots are going to be jumping around a bit, and he’s going
to be right in there. Even though it’s his first year, he’s a mature player
from junior college and he can be a leader on this team."

STOKLEY TOURNEY MONDAY: The Nelson Stokley Benefit Tournament, to raise
funds for the Nelson Stokley Endowed Football Scholarship at UL, is set for
Monday at Acadian Hills. The inaugural event, in honor of the late Ragin’
Cajun coach and former LSU standout quarterback, will help realize plans to
endow a $100,000 scholarship at UL in Stokley’s name and is part of an
overall fund-raising effort.

Tournament coordinators Kathy Stokley and Preston Guidry said that spots are
still available for last-minute entries.

"We’ve got team spots, and since it’s going to be scored with handicaps guys
can make up their own teams regardless of how well they play," Stokley said.

"We’ve also got several individuals that we’ll be pairing up, so we want to
especially invite individual players to come out and play."

STATE AM WRAPUP: Baton Rouge’s Greg Berthelot won a three-way battle in the
final threesome on Sunday to claim top honors in the Louisiana Golf
Association’s 92nd State Amateur held at Oakbourne. The just-graduated
Centenary product carded a 12-under 276 over the four rounds to edge out
playing partners Brent Struthers of Baton Rouge (278) and Patrick
Christovich (279), with that threesome all finishing six shots ahead of the
field.

But behind that group, several players with Acadiana ties had solid
tournament and assured themselves of a spot in next year’s State Am,
scheduled at the TPC Louisiana course in Avondale. The top 40 and ties
automatically earn berths without having to qualify.

UL junior Andrew Noto, runner-up in the 2010 event, finished fourth at
three-under 285 after leading the tournament through 18 holes, and led five
locals in the top 10. St. Martinville’s John Talley finished in solo eighth
place at 291 with a consistent 74-72-72-73 showing.

Maurice and McNeese product Mick Huffman was solo ninth at 292 and shot
70-71 on the weekend, one of two players in the field (Struthers was the
other) to shoot under par in each of the final two rounds. And former Ragin’
Cajun Dustin Petit and Lafayette’s Chad Bailey finished tied for 10th at
five-over 293.