Chip Shots: Lucas wins Big ‘I’ junior title – check “MORE PRO” for Mike Smith & Greg Sonnier

Dan McDonald • Advertiser Golf Writer • July 8, 2009  

Crowley’s Ali Lucas continued to establish herself as the state’s top junior female last week when she claimed top honors at the prestigious Louisiana Trusted Choice Big "I" Junior Championships at the University Club course in Baton Rouge.

Lucas won the 16-player girls division by five strokes with a sterling 67-71-138 score, six-under-par for the two-day event. That score is believed to be the lowest in the history of the state event, and qualified Lucas for the 41st Trusted Choice Big "I" National Championship set July 25-30 at Dornick Hills in Ardmore, Okla.

"I really have no complaints about the course," Lucas laughed after her wire-to-wire win.

Lucas’ victory comes on the heels of her second straight Division II (Classes 3A-C) state high school title, top honors in the Louisiana Champions Invitational against all top state prep finishers at Marksville’s Tamahka Trails, the top spot on the Arrowhead Junior Golf Tour’s season-long points list and earning top point honors for the Louisiana team at the recent Junior Girls Tri-State Championships.

Hannah Schorr of Broussard, despite a hand injury, finished sixth in the Big "I" girls 13-18 division with a 77-74-151 score. Kelsey Angelle of Arnaudville and Justin Duplantis of Lafayette were the top local boys finishers, finishing tied for 21st at 76-77-153 and 23rd at 82-73-155 respectively in the overall division.

STATE JUNIOR: The second-oldest tournament on the Louisiana Golf Association calendar is set today through Friday when Alexandria Golf & Country Club hosts the 52nd Junior Amateur Championships. A field of 68 players between ages 10-17 will go after both overall and age-group championships.

Four local players – Kent Broussard, Brady Sturm, Drew Gonzales and Austin Richard, all of Lafayette – will be in the event which includes 54 holes in the overall division and 36 holes in ages 10-12, 13-14 and 15-17 divisions. Play begins at 7:30 a.m. off both Nos. 1 and 10 tees today.

Alexandria’s Travis Wilmore won last year’s event and joined a lineup of former winners that includes David Toms and Hal Sutton. Broussard’s Ethan Savoy, a UL signee for this fall, tied for sixth last year, Broussard’s Bo Boudreaux tied for eighth and Greg Maher of Carencro tied for 12th.

AND ALSO UPCOMING: The LGA also has two other events within the next month and is accepting entries, both on-line and by hard copy, for the final two events on its 2009 schedule – the Senior Amateur and the Senior Four-Ball.

The next tournament after the Junior Amateur is the State Four-Ball, just over a week away on July 18-19 at TPC Louisiana in New Orleans. Entries for that two-man event are closed.

The Mid-Amateur, open to players age 25 and over, will be a local event with Oakbourne hosting the 54-hole tournament Aug. 7-9. Qualifying rounds will be held at eight statewide sites including a local qualifying next Monday, July 13, at Oakbourne. Entries for the Mid-Amateur also closed last week.

On-line registrations for the Senior Amateur Aug. 20-22 at Lake Charles Country Club and the Senior Four-Ball Sept. 26-27 at Southern Trace in Shreveport are available at www.lgagolf.org with a click on "Online Tournament Registration." Entry forms may also be printed out and mailed to the LGA Office.

PRISON GOLF FEATURED: The unique Prison View Golf Course at Angola, the nation’s only golf links located entirely within prison grounds, is being featured this summer by The Golf Channel on a 10-episode series titled "Golf in America."

The course was in the series’ first installment that aired last week, and the series will chronicle two dozen inspirational stories about golf and those who play the game. The first installment is being re-run regularly on the channel.

The prison’s nine-hole course, with multiple tee boxes allowing a full 18 holes, is open to the public and cared for by prison inmates, who are not allowed to play the course. Players are required to request tee times at least 48 hours in advance with personal information – date of birth, drivers license, social security number or the like – so that prison officials can do background checks before play.

But the uniqueness of playing a course on the same site as 5,018 inmates – most serving life sentences – is worth the trouble. And green fees are only $10, plus $5 for cart. Information is available from the pro shop – which also features barbecue, hamburgers, hot dogs and cold drinks – at (225) 655-2978, on the web at prisonviewgolf.com or from wanda@prisonviewgolf.com.

SEEING GREEN: Limited slots are available for the AimPoint Green-Reading Method clinics scheduled Sunday, July 19, at The Wetlands. The two-hour clinics are scheduled from 9-11 a.m., noon-2 p.m. and 3-5 p.m. and are being conducted by certified instructor Rob Noel and The Wetlands head pro David Gary.

The clinics will train golfers how to read greens and in methods to find proper aiming points for putts. Clinic cost is $130 and the clinics are limited to eight players per session (24 total). Information is available from Gary at 291-7150.

LAST CHANCE: The area’s largest open golf event, the 14th annual Mike Open presented by district attorney Mike Harson, is set next Monday-Tuesday at The Wetlands. The Mike Open raises funds for local children’s charities and is one of the state’s biggest events, with 588 players taking part last year.

Many of the prime spots have been filled, but tournament coordinator Ken Franques said that a few spots remain for all four tee times. Shotgun starts are at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. each day, and entry fee is $125 for the four-person scramble including cart, food and drinks. Deadline for entries is Friday and entry forms are available at all local courses or from Franques at 207-4288 or kfranq@cox.net.

PRO UPDATE: David Toms of Shreveport took last week off, but he looks to continue his run as one of the PGA Tour’s hottest players this week at the John Deere Classic at the TPC Deere Run course in Illinois.

Toms, who won the John Deere event in 1999, had his third runner-up finish of the year – the most on the PGA Tour – one week ago at the Travelers Championship. He shot a final-round 65 that included a back-side 31 and finished at 19-under-par 65-65-66-65-261. Only a record-setting 22-under effort from Kenny Perry denied Toms his first win in almost four seasons.

Toms earned $528,000 for the runner-up slot after finishing behind Zach Johnson at the early-season Sony Open and behind Brian Gay at the St. Jude Classic in Memphis two weeks ago. He is tied with Perry and Tiger Woods for the most top-10s (seven) this year, and is now 11th in the FedEx Cup points standings. More importantly, he is 12th on the money list ($2.55 million) and 15th on the President’s Cup points list with the top 10 earning automatic berths on the 2009 team.

MORE PRO: Lafayette’s Michael Smith and fellow former UL standout Greg Sonnier are both entered in the Adams Golf Pro Tour Series’ Texarkana Classic, a $100,000 event that begins today. Both rank in the top 50 on that tour’s money list entering this week.

Opelousas’ Amanda Mathis recently had a top-30 finish at the Duramed Championship in Mason, Ohio, one of the "majors" on the Duramed Futures Tour. Mathis tied for 28th overall with a 72-73-70-215 score there. Her best finish on tour this year came at the Texas Hill Country Classic in San Antonio in May, where she tied for 18th at 77-70-71-218 and earned $1,115.

INAUGURAL EVENT: The Wetlands will host an inaugural Summer Four-Ball on Saturday-Sunday, July 25-26. The tournament will be flighted by combined handicap total and will have scratch (combined handicaps 10-under), open (combined handicaps 11-over), senior (age 60-69) and super senior (age 70-over) divisions with handicaps not to exceed nine strokes between players.

The field will be limited to 50 teams and entry fee is $150 per player. Entries are due by July 22 or until a full field is reached, and play is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. More information and entry forms are available at the course or by calling 291-7151.

LAGNIAPPE: The Southwest Ladies Association monthly tournament is scheduled next Tuesday, July 14, at Ville Platte Country Club … Opelousas Catholic’s Logan LaJack has signed a scholarship with McNeese State after earning four All-State honors and finishing fourth in the Class 2A state eent this year. He was sixth in 2008 and third in 2007 … Spanish Trail hosts the fifth event of its Player of the Year series this Saturday-Sunday. Points awards have increased and information on participating in the series is available at 364-2263 … Spanish Trail has renewed its Tuesday Oilfield Trash scrambles with play at 5:30 p.m. each Tuesday.

(Dan McDonald’s local golf column appears each Wednesday. Clubs, courses and individuals wishing to submit items may e-mail to danmcdonald@cox.net or fax to (337) 857-8763. Please include a return phone number.)