Golf: Making the Turn – Freshman golfers making impact at UL + Bill Bass Open Results

Dan McDonald, The Advertiser, Nov. 9, 2016

UL golf coach Theo Sliman knew that he had a couple of incoming freshmen who could make an impact on his Ragin’ Cajun squad when the fall season began.

He didn’t know that Aron Juliusson and Jack Tolson would do that so quickly.

“When you have young guys like that, you always feel there’s a transition coming from high school to college,” said Sliman, whose squad just finished its four-tournament fall season in Kauai, Hawaii, at the Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational. “But those two guys have stepped in and there hasn’t been that adjustment. They’ve been hungry, competitive and they’re hard workers.

“It’s pleasing to see their comfort level, both at home and on the road. They know they belong out there and they believe they belong.”

Juliusson, one of a long line of players to join the Cajun squad from the surprisingly golf-interested country of Iceland, finished the fall season leading the Cajuns in stroke average (73.75). Tolson, a local product who won a state title at Westminster Christian, was close behind and was second on the team with a 74.11 fall average.

Juliusson finished in the top 25 in three of the four fall events and had two top-10 finishes, including last week at the Warrior Princeville tournament, where he tied for sixth individually with a seven-under-par 73-67-69 – 209 score. If a bad outing at the FAMC Intercollegiate in Tennessee in the second fall event, Juliusson had a sub-par average in the other three events.

In fact, he missed tying for medalist honors by a single stroke in the fall-opening Sam Hall Intercollegiate in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

“I knew he was a solid player, and I knew that he had high recommendations from our former player Ulfar Jonsson in Iceland,” Sliman said. “But it’s always a shot in the arm and a surprise to have someone put himself in contention that early as a freshman. He was literally in a position to win in his first semester. That was a pleasant surprise.”

Tolson was also solid almost the entire fall, with a scoring average just higher than one-over per round before struggling some in Hawaii. In fact, he shot 70-72-71 – 213, even par, in his first collegiate event in Hattiesburg.

“It was nice to see him step in and be very comfortable as a collegiate player,” Sliman said. “I’ve been coaching for nine years, and this is the first time we’ve had two freshmen finish in the top 15 in their very first tournament.”

Sliman said the challenge going into the fall season, one that begins in late February in the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate in Alabama, is for the upperclassmen to keep pace with the newcomers. Although seniors Fernando Cruz Valle and Ragnar Gardarsson were close behind in scoring average at 74.17 and 74.83 respectively, they’ll need to produce more if the Cajuns are going to advance into postseason play and contend in the Sun Belt Conference.

“To be honest, I was a little disappointed in the upperclassmen,” Sliman said. “They’ve got golf maturity and it’s not a matter of leadership, it’s just that somebody needs to step up and run with this thing. Right now our freshmen are doing that and that’s great, and hopefully that’ll spur our seniors to leave a strong mark in their last semester.”

Cruz Valle, a former Sun Belt Freshman of the Year and a two-time all-league selection, was the Cajuns’ leader in Tennessee and was in contention in Hawaii before a struggle in the final round. He was consistent but had only one subpar round out of 12 fall rounds. Gardarsson was the opposite — three subpar rounds during the fall, but he went 71-81 in back-to-back Hawaii rounds.

“I know Fernando’s capable of more,” Sliman said. “He’s got a career average under 74, so we need more productivity out of him. Ragnar was kind of like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, he’d have a great round and then a bad round. His ‘bad’ golf needs to get better.”

Sophomore Triston Elston was the other regular in the fall lineup, with senior Thomas Strandemo, Grant Welch and Ryan Desormeaux all seeing limited action. Strandemo sat out all of last season with a wrist injury but is now fully healthy.

“Thomas could produce and have a good spring for us,” Sliman said. “We need someone to sort of break out and give us that one more solid performer every tournament.”

If UL gets improvement from a couple of players in the spring season, one that includes the Cajuns’ own Louisiana Classics tournament Feb. 27-28 at Oakbourne, it won’t take much to make a significant run in the Sun Belt. The league doesn’t have a team that made regional, much less national, noise in the fall — Troy is the top Sun Belt team in the national GolfStat rankings at No. 73, and all league teams rank between 73 and 150 in that listing including UL’s No. 131 listing.

“That’s not that big a difference,” Sliman said. “It’s not like in past years when we’ve had a couple of teams in the 40s and 50s. It only takes one player getting hot, and we could be up there pretty quickly.”

Bill Bass results

Just under 100 players took part in last week’s Bill Bass Open, UL’s annual Homecoming golf tournament that helps support the Ragin’ Cajun golf team.

The team of Bill Whittle, Bobby McDonald, Matt Ponder and Drew Alleman took top honors in the four-person scramble event with a 52 score on the Peoria system. That was one stroke ahead of runners-up Dan Murphy, Kellie Murphy, Shane Thibodeaux and Patrick Babineaux at 53.

Bob Hardy, Curt Todd and Toddy Guidry claimed closest to the hole honors and Ponder won the long drive contest, while John Blohm and Jon Ransonet shared the top prize in the putting contest.

More importantly, the tournament raised nearly $4,500 for the Cajun program, while providing a fun outing for golfers during UL’s Homecoming festivities. That fits, since the tournament’s honoree, the late Bill Bass, served as both golf coach and as the school’s first alumni director during his career.

Athletic Network Footnote by Ed Dugas:
Click here for Bill Bass’ Athletic Network profile which chronicles his attributes: Football and Boxing letterman, Golf Coach, Alumni Association Director and Military Veteran.

“Making the Turn” appears each Wednesday from February-November in the Daily Advertiser. 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.