NATCHITOCHES — Unquestionably they are Hall of Fame athletes … their credentials fit right in among the dozens of all-time state greats this weekend at the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Induction Weekend.

But Harold Porter and Hollis Conway aren’t in the state sports shrine for their golfing ability. Neither, for that matter, is Deuce McAllister. It’s a good thing, too, because all three would still be waiting for their invitation to join the state’s all-time elite athletes and coaches.

Especially McAllister. Sorry, Deuce, but the Black and Gold Nation isn’t the Birdie and Golf Nation. You were a lot better at pounding your way to New Orleans Saints all-time rushing records than you are with a wedge in your hand.

That’s OK. You’re still among a handful of the most revered figures in Louisiana sports history, and that’s why you were inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame last night in your first year of eligibility. And it had nothing to do with your short game.

"I’m just showing my team the right direction," McAllister said Friday on the fifth hole of the annual Hall of Fame scramble at Alexandria’s Oak Wing. "Wherever I go, that’s where I tell them not to hit."

McAllister was one of seven state sports greats inducted in Saturday night’s ceremonies at the Natchitoches Events Center, which is only a stone’s throw away from the construction site for the stunning Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame building which will open next year.

Porter and Conway were inducted in previous years — Porter in 1997 and Conway in 2004 — for their exploits for the Ragin’ Cajun track and field team and in later national and international circles. It was after both wrapped up their track careers that they first picked up a golf club, and if they expected to transition their previous athletic success to golf "»

"If you’re a competitive athlete, you’re used to winning," Conway said Friday before teeing off. "In golf, if you don’t put the time into it, it’s not happening."

Conway, a two-time Olympic medalist in the high jump and the USA’s top-ranked jumper for seven straight years, admittedly doesn’t hit the course enough in his adopted Monroe residence.

"If I’m lucky, I get in nine holes a month," he said. "I can see the perfect shot in my head before I swing, and then I’m looking for it after I swing."

Porter is more fortunate in that he has more time to devote to the game, and does play as many as four or five times per week. Part of that is through his duties with the Lafayette Recreation Commission, where he is charged with keeping tabs on the city’s three municipal courses.

"I play them a bunch," said Porter, who was UL’s first Division I track All-American as a freshman in 1971 and eventually set all of the school’s sprint records before participating on the USA national team. "But I love to play Squire Creek "» that’s the best course in the state "» Tamahka Trails, English Turn."

Porter barely new golf existed before 1986 when he was working for Johnson & Johnson, more than a decade after his competitive career ended. "That’s all pharmacy companies did, was play golf," he said, "so I had to do that, too."

His territory covered three states and he began playing on courses around the area, but it wasn’t until 1988 that he took the big step and enrolled in Hank Haney’s Golf School. Don Wallace, like Porter a former standout Cajun athlete and now on the PGA Tour staff, set up that three days of intense instruction.

"Tony Trevino, Lee’s son, was my teacher," he said. "I understood golf after that."

Conway hasn’t had that kind of lessons, having picked it up in 2003 at the urging of former pastor Lloyd Joiner at the Progressive Baptist Church in Lafayette. "I went to Service Merchandise and got some clubs and went to Muni (Hebert Municipal," he said. "That was the best and worst thing that could have happened "» I loved it from the start, I just never got any better."

He loves the game nonetheless "» and he now kicks himself for not taking it up earlier.

"I lived at Oakbourne and never played," he said. "When I was competing, I spent a lot of time in Ireland, in London, all over Europe, around courses I would love to play now. I can’t imagine the places I could’ve lost golf balls then."

Hollis Conway Harold Porter
Inducted into Hall 2004 1997
Sports specialty High Jump Sprints
Took up golf 1986 2003
"Home" course Calvert Crossing (Calhoun) All three Lafayette municipals
Clubs of choice Callaway (Big Bertha 460 driver) Callaway driver and irons
Best part of game now Driving ("On occasion I’ll hit it well, and then chipping") Short game ("Chipping, because I do that all the time")
Worst part of game now Long irons ("They just don’t work") Driving ("I’m getting old, they don’t go as far")
Plays how often Maybe once a month ("but I think about it often") 4-5 times a week ("I have to keep up with how the city courses are")