PORT ARTHUR —     Jarrod Brown and his buddies on the Port Neches-Groves golf team will be looking to write a little more Indians’ history when they tee it up Monday and Tuesday at the state 4A tournament over the Jimmy Clay Municipal Course in Austin.

    Last week in Huntsville, with Brown’s second-place finish leading the way, PN-G emerged as outright Region III champions for only the third time. They joined a similarly young group of Indians who hoisted the championship trophy back-to-back in 1993 and 1994.

    Those two Tommy Tucker teams, however, with Rusty Shannon, Casey Hollomon, Casey Tucker and Shane Lawson, making the trip twice, and Chase Sasser and Bjorn Ralling going once, could do no better than sixth (1994) at state. Best ever PN-G finish in Austin was the 1986 team of Michael Dulin, Tre Elmore, David Berry, Jay Bailey and Craig Huffstetler which placed fifth.

    Dulin, Elmore and Bailey were members of PN-G teams that made three consecutive trips to state from 1984-86. The 1985 team, which included  Vach Landry and David Berry, tied for first at regional but lost in a playoff. They were seventh, sixth and fifth, respectively, in the three Austin trips.

    Coach Ricky Keyes’ current group of Indians,  with juniors Brandon Provost and Lonnie LaBove, sophomore Tyler Rawson and freshman Braden Bailey teaming with Brown, a junior, have their sights set on being state champions. At the very least, they would like to come home knowing they finished higher in the state tourney than any other PN-G team.

    Individually, meanwhile, it’s going to be even tougher to make history. Shannon, in 1994, was second medalist at state. Dulin, in 1986, was third medalist.  He’d been sixth in 1985 and seventh in 1984. No other PN-G golfer can match Dulin’s overall track record at state. Also making a strong showing in Austin was Andrew Landry, who tied for 3rd in 2005.

    Ironically, Chris Stroud, the most accomplished PN-G golfer, hardly created a ripple in the state tournament. Stroud got there just once, after finishing third in regional in 1998, and placed eighth. He’s got several higher finishes on the PGA Tour.

    Stroud, by the way, was elated when informed of the Indians success while playing in last week’s Valero Texas Open in San Antonio. Part of it was because he’s an alum and an even bigger part was the fact he was invested from spending a day at The Woodlands providing the players tips and instruction.

    Here’s what he texted back after hearing from Keyes.

    “Awesome...really proud of u guys...persistence is key...continue on and win state...tell them to start now on visualizing playing 18 holes perfectly n their minds...going thru their preshot routine, and actual shots and putts...they should birdie every hole in their mind and make every putt!”

    Brown has clearly been the Indians top player this season, winning four consecutive tournaments in one stretch and posting the low stroke average of 75.23. He also authored the three lowest rounds of the season, shooting a 67 at Wildwood, a 69 at Brentwood and a 71 in the opening round of regional at Raven Nest.

    Not far behind Brown in stroke average, and an almost certain future star, is Bailey. The freshman was District 20-4A champion, posted a stroke average of 76.92 and had the fourth lowest round of 74 on the second day of regional. Bailey finished 11th overall at regional with a 153 (79-74), despite making a quadruple bogey in the first round.

    Other stroke averages for PN-G players headed to Austin are 78.85 for 2011 District 20-4A champ LaBove, 78.09 for Provost and 79.25 for Rawson. LaBove shot 152 (74-78) to finish 10th at regional, Provost was 13th at 154 (78-76) and Rawson was 35th at 164 (78-86).

    A sixth player, freshman Brandon Soileau, will also be part of PN-G’s state contingent as the team’s alternate. Soileau, whose season average was 78.27, placed 30th at regional with a 162 (74-82) as part of the PN-G “B” team. He would participate in state if another player was ill or injured.

    PN-G does have a degree of familiarity with the Jimmy Clay layout, having played in the Mike Brent 4A Invitational there in blustery, miserable conditions in February. The Indians finished eighth in a 15-team field with a 36-hole team score of 675. Only Bailey and LaBove, who shot 78s on the second day, managed to break 80.

    Three of the seven teams the Indians will be competing against bested them in the Brent tourney. Highland Park won with a 631, Lake Travis was second with a 638 and Montgomery was seventh at 671. The Indians, of course, came from behind to top Montgomey for the Region III championship.

    Other schools in the 4A field are Wolfforth Frenship, Northwest Nelson, Dallas Highland Park, Round Rock Cedar Ridge and Boerne Champion.

    Individually, the player to beat may be freshman Chandler Phillips from Huntsville.  Phillips shot rounds of 70-66 for a 136 that won Region III by a 12 shots over PN-G’s Brown. Babe Zaharias head pro Ed Campbell, who made the trip to the regional tourney, watched some of Phillips’ round and later called him, “the best young player I’ve ever seen.”

    For those not able to make the trip to Austin but interested in keeping up, live Internet scoring will be available every three holes on Monday and Tuesday at www.highschoolgolfscoreboard.com. The leaderboards will be linked with golfstatresults.com.