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Golf: Making the turn – UL golf and the Memphis Intercollegiate TournamentDan McDonald, Daily Advertiser, April 3, 2013 The conditions may not have been fit for man nor beast, but UL’s golf team may have found its stride last week at the Memphis Intercollegiate Tournament. At least, coach Theo Sliman hopes so. The Ragin’ Cajuns posted an impressive second-place finish against an NCAA Regional-caliber field in the event, finishing behind only a strong Austin Peay squad, in a tournament marred by rugged Play was halted twice because of the wet and windy conditions during that second round, and the final hour was played in a light snowfall … not the optimum conditions for golf. “In five years of playing college golf, and years of coaching, it’s the worst I’ve ever seen,” Sliman said of the conditions. “The wind chill … it was blowing 20-25 miles an hour most of the day, and then we started getting the precipitation. For us Louisiana guys it was unique because we never see snow when we’re playing. It was kind of neat, if you weren’t playing golf.” The weather aside, UL posted its best round of the season – and likely its best round in several seasons – in that second round. After opening with a struggling 30-over-par 318 in Monday’s morning round, the Cajuns came back in the afternoon with a stunning 5-under 283 score to get back within one shot of the lead. UL was tied for 11th in the 16-team field after the morning round. For comparison’s sake, the next-best score in the afternoon was Austin Peay’s 297, a full 14 strokes behind the UL score. That’s almost three strokes per player over the rest of the field. “I had numerous coaches come up to us and say that was the best round of golf they’d witnessed in a long time,” Sliman said. “Some of them have been coaching for 20 years or more, so I was very proud of that.” UL came back with a 298 in Tuesday’s final round, finishing two strokes back of Austin Peay and seven ahead of the host Memphis Team. UL also finished well ahead of four teams ranked in the national top 50 (No. 29 Texas Tech, No. 35 Vanderbilt, No. 43 Ball State and No. 46 South Alabama) and six teams ranked in the top 100. <!–Saxotech Paragraph Count: 12
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“Louisiana-Lafayette shot that incredible 283 yesterday,” said Austin Peay coach Kirk Kayden after the final round Tuesday. “They really made a run at it.” Austin Peay has won four tournaments this year. In contrast, the Cajuns hadn’t finished higher than eighth in any fall or spring tournament before going to Memphis’ Colonial Country Club. “We’ve been struggling, no question,” Sliman said. “The last really solid round of golf we played was all the way back to the start of September. There’s been a lot of frustration, not playing up to what we think our potential is. The guys know they’re capable “That showed them that the season’s not over, and that even though we’ve been struggling we can play good golf. Hopefully this sparks some confidence.” Freshman Ross Davis finished tied for sixth individually with a 77-74-72–223 score, while veterans Brandt Garon and Yohann Vora also finished in the top 12 at 226. Ethan Savoy would have also finished in that top echelon had he not struggled to an 83 in the final round. Both Savoy and Garon posted a stellar 3-under-par 69 and Vora had a 71 in Monday’s second round, the three top rounds in the brutal afternoon conditions. The Cajuns have one more regular-season tournament, departing Saturday for the Old Waverly Collegiate Championship Monday-Tuesday at Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Miss. After that, it’s the Sun Belt Conference Championships April 22-24 at Muscle Shoals, Ala., with the winner earning a spot in the NCAA Regionals. Sliman hopes that finishing well ahead of four Sun Belt teams in Memphis is a sign of things to come. “Hopefully this is a spark for us,” he said. “I told the guys that the weather drew out a lot of good things, their focus Chip Shots GIRLS & JV PREPS: Teurlings Catholic claimed the girls’ varsity title and St. Thomas More took the boys’ junior varsity crown in the first two final events of the Acadiana Area High School Golf League, played Monday at Bayou Bend in Crowley. <!–Saxotech Paragraph Count: 7
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The boys’ varsity championship is scheduled for next Tuesday, April 9, at Squirrel Run in New Iberia, where both the tournament team and individual titles and the season-long stroke average titles will be determined. Teurlings got balanced scores from Brooke Thibodeaux (91) and Hillary Washington (94) to take the girls’ team title with a 185 score, 12 strokes ahead of runner-up Notre Dame which was led by the 97 score of Emily Lucas. Emily Pellerin of New Iberia was individual medalist in the event with an 86 score, playing as an individual. STM had an even easier time in the boys’ JV event, posting a 326 score to finish 42 strokes ahead of Teurlings and Notre Dame, both tied for second at 368. STM’s Matt Andrus took medalist honors with a 75 score while Beau David was one stroke back at 76. Taylor Morton led Teurlings with an 80 and Trey Miller paced Notre Dame with an 85. OTHER PREPS: Ascension Episcopal took a pair of wins and St. Thomas More, Notre Dame and Opelousas Catholic all were winners in Acadiana Area High School Golf League action last week. AES won both matches at Farm d’Allie, winning a three-team even with a 172 score just ahead of Teurlings’ 176, with Skye Mejia (38) taking medalist honors and Josh Thibodeaux (43) leading TCHS. AES also won a four-team event Monday with a 167 score ahead of ESA (183), Catholic-New Iberia (194) and Lafayette High (206), paced by the 40 of Mejia and the 41 of Grant Maxwell. Micah Goulas led CHNI at 41 and Jourdan Kyles and Jacob Billeaud each shot 42 for ESA. STM (154) finished ahead of Hanson (177) in a four-team event at Hebert Muncipal, paced by the 36 of Drew Gonzales, while Tyler Leger of Vermilion Catholic had a 39 as an individual and STM’s Hunter David and Hanson’s Doyle Tibbs each shot 40. Notre Dame’s 164 score won a multi-team event at Squirrel Run’s Steeple course, Kyle Camp leading the way with a solid 35 score and Grant Broussard posting a 41. OCHS’ 170 score was good enough to win a four-team event over ESA (189), Lafayette High (197) and CHNI (200 <!–Saxotech Paragraph Count: 8
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IF YOU DIDN’T NOTICE: At last weekend’s Shell Houston Open, the midway leader was Monday qualifier Steve Wheatcroft, a multi-year veteran of both the PGA Tour and Web.com Tour. He earned a spot in the Houston field on Monday, but it wasn’t his first Monday attempt this year. In fact, Wheatcroft wasn’t in the field for last week’s Chitimacha Louisiana Open on his number and tried to Monday qualify here, missing out here by three strokes with a two-under 70 at The Wetlands. AMATEUR TOUR: The GolfWeek Louisiana South Amateur Tour returns to play Saturday, April 13, at the Spring Classic held at the Bluffs in St. Francisville. The 132-player field is already filled, but information on waiting list and on the tour itself is available from Britt Guillory at 962-3111 or at lasouth@amateurgolftour.net. The Tour’s first event of the year, the Golfballs.com Kickoff Classic in March, was moved from The Farm d’Allie to Alexandria’s Links on the Bayou due to wet and unplayable course conditions. In that event, David Griffin and James “T-Boy” Hamilton tied for first in the championship flight with one-over 73 scores, with Griffin winning in a playoff, while Jason Lewis was third at 74 and Curt Arcement, Trey Coker and David Duhon tied for fourth at 76. ACADIANA PRO-AM: The next outing for the Acadiana Pro-Am Association is Thursday (tomorrow) at Spanish Trail. The monthly events are sponsored by Community First Bank, and are open to all players regardless of ability level. Players may make up their own foursomes and may call for tee times at (337) 364-2263. USSSA TOUR: The next outing for the USSSA Junior Tour is Saturday-Sunday at the Red River Clash at Shreveport Country Club. The event is open to boys and girls age 9-18 with the 12-14 and 15-18 age groups playing 36 holes and the 9-11 age group playing 18 holes (nine daily). Entry fee is $160 for the two older age groups and $80 for the youngest group which includes both days of play and themed tee gifts. Deadline for entering is today, and information and entries are available online at www.usssa.com or from Robert Boudreaux at (337) 278-8431. <!–Saxotech Paragraph Count: 8
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LARC IN MAY: LARC’s second annual “Golf Fore Acadian Village” is set for Friday, May 10, at Les Vieux Chenes, with the four-person scramble having registration at 11:30 a.m. and the first tee time at 12:30 p.m. The tournament is a fundraiser for LARC’s Acadian Village, a non-profit organization which assists pesons with intellectual and developmental disabilities achieve self-sufficiency and self-worth. The 50-year-old organization offers residential, vocational and community support services. Each team will putt with Lafayette city-parish president Joey Durel on one hole. Entry fee is $500 per team or $150 for individuals, and sponsorships from $150 to $5,000 are available. Entries and other information are available from Megan Morris at megan@acadianvillage.org or at 981-2364. ACES: College student George Rees of Opelousas posted the first hole-in-one of his golf career Friday, using a 7-iron and a Srixon ball to ace the 163-yard 12th hole at Hebert Municipal. Rees, a five handicapper, was in a group with Alex Andrade, Josh Miller and Forrest Ladd and one-hopped his shot into the pin. Jim Baker of Scott used a 9-iron and a Callaway HX Tour ball to post a hole-in-one Saturday at The Wetlands, 133-yard eighth hole. Baker was playing in a group with Chuck Duhon and Ron Dauterive. UPCOMING IN APRIL: The Society of Petroleum Engineers will hold its annual spring tournament on Friday, April 12, at Squirrel Run. The four-person scramble tournament is set for 1 p.m. with registration beginning at noon, and will help raise scholarship money for students to attend both UL and LSU as well as to fund programs in local science clubs. Entry fee is $550 per team with food and beverages provided on the course. Other information and registrations are available from Corinne Cotton at (337) 839-5710 or Randy Rice at (337) 989-3077. *** UL’s Gridiron Alumni chapter will hold its annual “Blackjack” Landry Memorial Scramble on Friday, April 19, one day before UL’s spring football game, with a 1 p.m. shotgun start at Les Vieux Chenes. The four-person scramble raises funds for the group’s projects that help the Ragin’ Cajun football program, assistance that totaled an all-time-high $20,000 from last year’s tournament. <!–Saxotech Paragraph Count: 6
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Many former Cajun players, coaches and staffers annually take part in the event. Teams spots are $600 per team or $150 per player, and entries may be made as a team or as individuals to be paired up in groups. Sponsorships from $500 to $5,000 are also available. Information and entries are available online at www.GridironAlumni.ning.com, or from Chris Gannon at (972) 571-8439, Chris.Gannon@frx.com or gridironalumni@gmail.com. *** The inaugural Kevin Naquin for Pancreatic Cancer Research Tournament is set for Friday, April 19, at The Wetlands, to raise funds to help in the fight against pancreatic cancer – a disease Naquin’s father continues to fight. The three-person scramble event has a 10:30 a.m. registration and a noon shotgun start, and entry fee is $450 per team with players invited to enter as teams or individuals. Sponsorships are also available, and entries are due April 1. Information and entry forms are available from Jessie Naquin at 288-5089 or jrnaquin@yahoo.com, Judy Briscoe at 288-1888 or judy@home24bank.com, or Kevin Naquin at 319-3817 or kevinnaquin@yahoo.com. *** The annual tournament to benefit the UL Petroleum Engineering Department – the event formerly known as the Francis Broussard Memorial and the Ronnie Gaspard Memorial – is set for Monday, April 22, at Le Triomphe. The tournament has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the UL program in its 10-year existence, making renovations, refurbishments and improvements possible in many department areas along with increasing scholarship funds. This year’s presenting sponsors are CE Oil Tools, Dishman & Bennett, Timco Casing and Quality <!–Saxotech Paragraph Count: 5
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The four-person scramble has 11 a.m. registration and lunch and a noon shotgun start along with a banquet after play. The field is limited to 36 teams and entry fee is $1,000 per team, and tournament chairman Jim McCartney said that 10 team spots are still available on a first-come, first-served basis. Entries are available from McCartney at Workover Specialties at (337) 298-7070 or at geauxgolf@cox.net. HELP WANTED: Les Vieux Chenes is hiring an additional person in its golf shop staff. Hourly rates and various day shifts are available and plans are to fill the position as soon as possible. Vieux Chenes pro Todd Robertson said that customer service and outgoing personality are a must. More information is available from Robertson at the course, at trobertson@lafayettegov.net or at (337) 837-1159. SPECIAL DEAL: Golfballs.com is running an online promotion with special ball-purchase deals on selected Nike balls. Purchase of 12 dozen Nike 20XI, 20XI-X, OneRZN and OneRZN-X logo balls will get four dozen more free through April 15. More information is available online at www.golfballs.com. (“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, atdanmcdonald@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.)
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