Sponsor exemptions are a part of professional golf, with tournaments using them to promote local players and draw interest to the event. That’s the case with the four exemptions that have been awarded for next week’s Chitimacha Louisiana Open.

The $500,000 Nationwide Tour event has its first of three pro-ams on Monday and actual tournament competition begins on Thursday, and when the 144-player field is announced this weekend the tournament’s four designates will be in that field.

Two of them — Lafayette’s Michael Smith and Acadiana-area native Brent Delahoussaye — figure to bring local interest to the first U.S. stop on the Nationwide Tour this year

Smith has been a regular in the Open for the last three years, and the former UL standout and 2011 participant in the U.S. Open made the cut in the 2010 Open. Delahoussaye, who was born in Breaux Bridge, lived here until age eight and still has scores of family here, has made nearly a hundred starts on the PGA and Nationwide Tours and has 10 top-25 finishes on the Nationwide.

Michael Clark II has also been an exemption for the Open several times by a sponsor request, and holds one PGA Tour title (the 2000 John Deere Classic) and two Nationwide Tour wins. The Tennessee native, Georgia Tech graduate and Georgia resident was the PGA Tour’s Rookie of the Year in 2000.

The fourth exemption carries one of the best known family names in golf. Travis Wadkins is the son of former PGA Tour standout and recent World Golf Hall of Fame inductee Lanny Wadkins, and recently finished a standout collegiate career at Georgia Tech. He missed out on gaining status on either tour at this year’s PGA Q-School final stage.

Nationwide Tour rules allow each tournament to invite four players into the field that otherwise would not be participating, and saving them the rigors of Monday’s open qualifying. Players must have handicaps of zero or less, and two of the four must hold some type of Tour status.

"We get literally dozens of requests for sponsor exemptions," said Open executive director Danny Jones, "and we consider every one we receive. Obviously, someone who’s a local player and someone who’s familiar to our tournament supporters and fans will get a very close look."

Smith made a huge career step last summer when he won the U.S. Open Sectional and qualified for the national championship. Both he and Delahoussaye missed the cut last year, but both made it to the weekend in 2010 — in only Smith’s second-ever Nationwide Tour start — and Delahoussaye eventually finished tied for 21st. Delahoussaye had also finished tied for 22nd in the 2008 Open.

Prominent local players have been a fixture in the event, and two players with significant local ties — former Acadiana resident Ryan Hietala and ex-Ragin’ Cajun standout Rob McKelvey — found the Open winner’s circle. Two others with heavy local ties, PGA Tour winner Mike Heinen and Nationwide Tour winner Kris Cox, have finished as runners-up, both by a single shot.

"We’re happy that this area can boast golfers that can play on this level," said Tournament chairman Will Arledge. "It’s always good for the tournament when we have players that are familiar in this area, and we hope our locals will come out and support them."

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