Golf: Chip Shots – Brandt Garon in U.S. Amateur Championships – Bill Bass Open

Dan McDonald, Daily Advertiser, August 7, 2013, golfballs.com

GARON AT U.S. AM: Former UL golf standout Brandt Garon of Baton Rouge will tee it up beginning Monday in the prestigious U.S. Amateur Championship, set for Aug. 12-18 at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.

Garon, a native of Baton Rouge who wrapped up his Cajun career last spring, was the runner-up in the USGA Amateur Sectional qualifier held last month at TPC Louisiana.

He posted a 1-over-par 143 score there to claim one of the two spots awarded from that field.

Myles Lewis of New Orleans won the sectional with a two-under-par 140 score, with the LSU golfer posting 68-72 rounds in the grueling 36-hole day. Garon finished three strokes back and finished one stroke ahead of two other players, ensuring his claim to one of the two qualifying spots.

A total of 7,002 players nationally attempted to qualify for the U.S. Amateur, and Garon is one of the 312 that will play 18 holes of stroke play on Monday and Tuesday. After those two rounds, the field will be cut to the low 64 scorers to begin six rounds of match play that culminate in the national title match over 36 holes on Aug. 18.

The U.S. Amateur qualifying continues a solid series of summer events for Garon, who won the Baton Rouge Open title in June at Santa Maria. His final-round 70 was good for a one-stroke win.

SAVE THE DATE: The annual Bill Bass Open, one of the highlights of UL’s Homecoming week, has been scheduled for Friday, Nov. 1, at Les Vieux Chenes. The tournament continues its tradition of being played one day before UL’s Homecoming clash, that one set this year on Saturday, Nov. 2, against New Mexico State, and the four-person scramble raises funds for the Bill Bass Scholarship Fund and for the Cajun golf team.

In a first this year, because of the capacity crowds in previous years in an afternoon-only format, the tournament will feature both morning and afternoon shotgun starts in order to accommodate the increased number of players. Play will begin at 8 a.m. for the morning wave and 1 p.m. for the afternoon wave, with lunch served between the shotgun starts.

Brochures with tournament information and entry blanks will soon be available at all local clubs, and information and entry forms will also be available online in the near future to allow golfers to enter and pay entry fees from their computers or smart phones. More information is available at (337) 857-8754.

Posted, in part, from Dan’s story published on the above date.