Golf: Locals earn exemptions to La. Open

Dan McDonald • Advertiser Golf Writer • January 29, 2009

The Chitimacha Louisiana Open has awarded its four sponsor exemptions for the March 22-29 event, and three of them have local connections.

Two of them – Mike Heinen and Greg Sonnier – have played in the event several times as has Tennessee’s Michael Clark, who secured another exemption. The final one, though, is a first-time player as well as a first-year pro, with Lafayette’s Michael Smith earning a spot.

Smith, who finished his career at UL last spring and helped lead the Ragin’ Cajuns to the Sun Belt Conference title, has already found some measure of pro success with a win on the Adams Golf mini-tour in his second outing after turning pro.

"Our philosophy for exemptions is that they go to players that we feel can compete and have a legitimate chance of finishing in the top 25," said Open executive director Danny Jones. "Michael has already shown that he has the potential to do that."

Smith is the latest in a series of former UL standouts that have found a measure of success in the Open. Heinen, a pro veteran of two decades and a winner on the PGA Tour (the 1994 Shell Houston Open), was runner-up in a playoff here in 2002, and Sonnier tied for eighth here in 2007 including a stellar third-round 62 that vaulted him among the leaders.

Nationwide Tour rules require that two of the exemptions have some Tour status (Heinen and Clark), with the other two unrestricted.