Golf: Making the Turn – Bill Bass Open UL Homecoming Tournament 9/26/12

Dan McDonald, The Advertiser, September 26, 2012

Next week’s Bill Bass Open, UL’s annual Homecoming golf tournament, provides local golfers and Ragin’ Cajun fans with the opportunity for some fun and fellowship with regular partners, other UL supporters and alumni who come into town for the weekend festivities.

It’s an enjoyable Friday afternoon … but it’s also important to the Cajun golf team, maybe even more so in a lean time of funding in Louisiana higher education.

The tournament is just over one week away, scheduled for Friday, Oct. 5, at Les Vieux Chenes, and is one of the sources of income for coach Theo Sliman’s squad. Part of the proceeds go directly to the Cajun team, and another major part goes into the Bill Bass Scholarship Fund which also benefits the program.

"It’s well needed," said Sliman, whose team has already played two fall tournaments and will be heading for the prestigious David Toms Intercollegiate in Baton Rouge next week. "We don’t do a lot of golf outings from a fund-raising standpoint, so the proceeds from the Bill Bass and the scholarship go a very long way in our program."

Golf is a little different from most collegiate sports, with different budgetary demands and the fact that there’s no income derived from ticket sales as there is for most programs. And it’s also one of only a few chances, along with the Louisiana Classics tournament in the spring, for local fans to interact with the UL team.

"It’s a very expensive sport," Sliman said. "When we go to an event we’re traveling for four days, and that means restaurants and hotels. Football and baseball have a lot more numbers, but we’re gone for a longer time and that means more uniforms. And with where the price of golf has gone, with balls and equipment, it can add up very quickly when you’re dealing with nine, 10, 11 guys.

"Thank goodness we’ve only seen a very few cuts, because we’re seeing the economic trying times in the state. This definitely fills a void for us."

That’s why it’s important both for Cajun supporters and for those who just care about the game to take part.

The four-person scramble has registration and lunch (Pete’s on Johnston Street will be grilling burgers, so it doesn’t get much better than that) at 11 a.m. prior to a shotgun start at 12:30 p.m. Members of the UL athletic staff will be on hand during lunch to meet and greet players.

More snacks and beverages will be available on the course, and members of the Cajun golf team who aren’t participating in that day’s David Toms tourney in Baton Rouge will be on the course and hitting shots along with each team on selected holes. There will also be some special "Homecoming" holes in play throughout the round.

Entry fee is $125 per player or $500 per team, and players may make up their own four-person team or may enter as individuals to be paired up into teams. A team handicap index is used so that all teams will have a chance at the Cajun-themed prizes that will go to the winning squads.

Entry forms are available at Les Vieux Chenes and at all other local courses, at the Golfballs.com Retail Center and The Golf Connection, at the UL athletic department and the UL Alumni House offices.

In a new feature this year, players and teams may enter online through a secure server so that players may type in all entry information and pay entry fees through their computer. To access the entry form at www.LouisianaAlumni.org, click on the "Ragin’ Cajun Games" Homecoming logo at the top of the page, click on the list of this year’s events, click on the "Bill Bass Open Golf Tournament" and scroll to the bottom to the "Click Here to Register" box.

Playing spots are still available, and more information on the event is available by calling (337) 857-8754.

The tournament honors the late Bill Bass, an icon in golf in Louisiana, the UL Alumni Association’s first director and former Cajun golf coach. His son Bob Bass, who also coached the UL team for nearly two decades and was honored as the coach on the all-time Sun Belt Conference team , is the chairman of the event and will be on the course greeting teams — despite his recent hip replacement surgery.

"I don’t know the exact number of years, but it’s been around for as long as I can remember," said Sliman, himself a former member of the UL team. "To have Coach Bass’ father’s name attached to this, and to have the scholarship in his name, it’s a tremendous honor for us. It’s an exciting time of the year with football and with homecoming, and to have the opportunity to piggy-back on that and have a tournament to benefit the golf program is a huge honor and a huge benefit."

"Making the Turn" appears each Wednesday. Clubs, courses and individuals with information about local golf events may email Dan McDonald, editorial director at Golfballs.com, at danmcdonald@cox.net, FAX to (337) 857-8763 or call (337) 857-8754 and leave a message with phone number. Listen to the "Making the Turn" radio show each Wednesday from 8-9 a.m. on ESPN ¬Sports Radio 1420.