BROUSSARD — If the Chitimacha Louisiana Open was looking for variety in its sponsor exemptions this year, the tournament definitely reached that goal.

The foursome that received those berths may all have strong local ties, but all are in different stages of their careers and all are from very different backgrounds. Their only common denominators are strong connections to the Acadiana area, guaranteed slots in the 144-player main field and a deep desire to do well when the $500,000 Nationwide Tour event begins Thursday at Le Triomphe.

Three of them are Acadiana natives. Brian Rowell came to the area through a romance, one that has blossomed into a wedding in less than two months.

Three are living in the area. Brent Delahoussaye moved to Baton Rouge shortly after his birth and left Louisiana at age 12.

Three are still looking for their one big break in professional golf. Mike Heinen reached one of the peaks of the golfing profession 17 years ago when he won a PGA Tour event.

Three are using the Louisiana Open as a kickoff to their season. Michael Smith already has a top-10 finish this year on the Adams Pro Tour one week ago, and is hoping to carry that over into this week.

"When you’re at home, you want to play well," said Smith, who is making his third appearance in the Open and made the cut for last year’s final two rounds. "It’s big time special to play here, and I’ve really been looking forward to it."

Smith turned professional four years ago after a stellar collegiate career with UL’s Ragin’ Cajun squad, and missed the cut by one stroke in the 2009 Open — missing a putt on the 18th green that could have put him into the weekend play. Last year he made up for that, making the cut with a two-under 140 score and cashing his first-ever Nationwide Tour check.

"Golf’s a learning experience," said Smith, who finished seventh at the Adams Tour’s Alexandria stop last week. "My game’s definitely improved a lot over the last couple of years. I’m a more mature player. Sometimes when you’re in college you don’t know exactly what you’re doing a lot of times, but I think I’ve gotten a lot better with the mental part, especially on a course I’m familiar with."

Familiarity isn’t a problem with Heinen, who is the "face" of the Open for many local fans. The Rayne native, former Ragin’ Cajun standout and Lake Charles resident adds to his tournament record for most appearances this year with his 16th Louisiana Open start. He’s also made more cuts than anyone in tournament history (13) and will be looking to add to that number after Friday’s second round.

"It is kind of neat," Heinen said about his Open appearances that date back to 1992 — the first year of the tournament’s existence. "It’s always special for me since I’m from here, went to college here and I know so many people here. Any time I play in Louisiana it’s special for me."

Heinen tied for 58th last year, but he has five top-20 finishes and three top-10s — one of them his memorable runner-up finish in 2002 when he lost a playoff to Steven Alker after both posted a tournament-record 24-under-par 264 total. He also tied for fifth in 1993, one year before he won the 1994 Shell Houston Open by a three-stroke margin in only his 10th-ever PGA Tour start.

Now, he spends more time running his own golf cart sales business than he does playing, but the competitive juices are still there even at age 44.

"I haven’t played a lot since Q-school last year," he said, "but the last three weeks I’ve been getting ready for this. A lot of the old ingrained habits have disappeared.

"I’ve always taken some time off in the off-season, November and December, and usually my best play came after I got the rust off in March, April and May. It’s a great time "» everyone’s embarking on a new year. You’ve got 144 guys that are excited and ready to play."

Delahoussaye is also excited since the week is a virtual family reunion. Even though his adult life has been spent in South Carolina and at Clemson, he was born in Breaux Bridge and lived in Louisiana until age 12, and he still has scores of kinfolk in the area from both his mother’s and father’s families.

"My mom’s side all live in Breaux Bridge (the Martin family, including the operators of Martin Chevrolet), and my dad grew up in St. Martinville but most of them are in Lafayette now," he said. "I’ve got so many folks here "» we come back at least twice a year."

"We" is he and wife Ashley. "She’s used to it now," Delahoussaye said, "but the first couple of times she came down here, it was culture shock. We always laugh that this is a very different place "» but that’s what makes it special."

Delahoussaye played on the Nationwide Tour from 2007-09 and was one of "The 25" that earned PGA Tour cards after the 2009 season. He played in 21 events on the PGA Tour last year and had a disappointing finish at Q-school last year.

"I took some time off after that," he said, "and I’ve only played in a couple of small tournaments in Georgia this year. But I had good practice sessions all winter long and my game’s where it needs to be. I’m looking forward to a good year."

Rowell is making his second Louisiana Open appearance, having tied for 21st in 2006 with a solid 69-69-73-70—281 score. At that time, he was living in Houston, but the Open changed his life — he met his now-fiancee’ Brittany during that tournament, and they are slated to be married on May 21.

"I stayed with her family when I played here then," he said, "and we just kept in touch. I moved here a couple of years ago, and now we’re engaged."

Rowell played with his soon-to-be father-in-law and brothers-in-law during Monday’s pro-am, after opening his tournament season in last week’s Adams Tour stop.

"I would like to have played in a few more events," Rowell said, "but I’ve been putting a lot of work in. A tournament like this, you never know what’s going to happen and you don’t know when your adrenaline will start pumping. It’ll surprise me if I don’t play pretty well."

Athletic Network Footnote: Please click here for the AN profile of Mike Smith