Good weather blessed the Texas-Louisiana Junior Tour for a fourth consecutive Saturday at Bayou Din, resulting in another sizable turnout and a promise from Babe Zaharias pro Ed Campbell that a good thing will get even better in future years.
“It’s a great start, said Campbell, who was assisted on the Texas end by Jerry Honza of the First Tee of the Golden Triangle. “We had excellent participation, fun competition and saw some good golf played. It was a very positive experience for the kids who participated.
“Jerry and I both want to acknowledge Tyler Kuhn from Gray Plantation and Dave Kasper and Bear Suarez from The National for their help in putting this together,” Campbell continued. “Like us, they saw the benefits for junior golf.”
Flight winners were split 4-4 at Bayou Din, making it the third time in four events things broke even between the two states. Texas won bragging rights, however, 18-14, thanks to winning six of the eight flights two weeks ago at Idylwild Golf Club.
Texas winners Saturday included Brendan Marley of Nederland (78 in Boys 14-15), Jack Burke of Little Cypress (76 in Boys 12-13), Xander Parks of Orangefield (39 in Co-ed 10-11, 9 holes) and Lincoln Parks of Orangefield (26 in Co-ed 7-9, 6 holes). Louisiana was paced Logan Kuehn, whose 70 in Boys 16-18 bested Jacobo Santacoloma of Lake Charles by three strokes. With Port Neches-Groves star Karlei Hemler off playing in a high school tournament, Lauren Anderson of Lake Charles placed first in Girls 16-18 with a 91.
Other Louisiana winners included Daphney Tilton of Iowa (84 in Girls 14-15) and Makenzie Leduff of Lake Charles (96 in Girls 12-13).
Cumulative Texas points winners were Parks (37.5 overall points), Parks (39), Burke (39) and Hemler (30). Overall Louisiana winners were Leduff (30) Braden Wright of Sulphur (24 in Boys 14-15), Tilton (19) and Santacoloma (36).
Players received 10 points for a first-place finish, 9 for second, etc., in each of the tournaments.

CHIP SHOTS

PN-G’s boys placed third, the Lady Indians were seventh and the Nederland boys finished tied for 10th at the 5A Region III preview tournament
Friday and Saturday at River Ridge Golf Club in Sealy.
The PN-G boys, paced by a solid 154 (78-76) by sophomore Josh Elmore, were only seven shots back of co-champs George Ranch and Stratford with a team total
of 636. Elmore’s 154 earned him a top 10 overall finish. He was eighth.
Other scores that counted for PN-G were Bryant Hardy’s 160 (76-84), Danny Stephens’ 161 (77-84) and Tyler Feemster’s 170 (94-76). Eye-opening was Feemster’s 18-stroke improvement in the second round. Also noteworthy was Hardy overcoming a quadruple bogey 8 on the ninth hole of the first round to shoot 76. He made 5 birdies.
PN-G coach Ricky Keyes was also encouraged by a second round 78 shot by senior Cameron Keith. Keith, an integral part of last year’s district championship team, has struggled this season. If he gets back on track, it will be big for the Indians heading into district and regionals.
Nederland, which shot 674, got a 166 (84-82) from Michael Krautz, a 168 (79-89) from Mitchell LeBaron, a 168 (81-87) from Michael Glover and a 172 (86-86) from Kris Robbins.
The Lady Indians, meanwhile, were led by a 157 (77-80) from Hemler, who finished third overall. She was four strokes back of winner Ava Schwentect of Magnolia. Other scores that counted toward PN-G’s 782 included a 167 (85-82) by Brynna Bailey (10th overall), a 218 (113-105) by Rian Weatherford and a 240 (126-114) by Rebecca Gay.
PN-G’s girls were back in action on Monday, winning the Warren/Wildwood Invitational by 34 strokes over Little Cypress-Mauriceville with a 351 total at Wildwood Golf Club. Hemler was low for the Lady Indians with a 77 but finished five shots back of LC-M’s Lauren Cox for individual honors.
Bailey backed Hemler with an 80, Kensey Dukes shot a 96 and Weatherford had a 98. …
For one of the few times from mid January through the end of the professional golf season, there will be no players with Southeast Texas ties to follow this week. Chris Stroud, Shawn Stefani, Dawie van der Walt and Andrew Landry are all ineligible for the WGC Championship being played at Doral.
The other major tour, the Web.com, does not resume play for two more weeks, meaning Michael Arnaud and Anthony Broussard also have nowhere to play.
Van der Walt pocketed $12,566 last week in the Honda Classic with a T65 finish on rounds of 71-68-78-71. Stroud missed the cut by one stroke, but did build up some confidence by following an opening 75 with a 69. He’s returning to action next week in Tampa.
The Monday Senior 50 Plus Game at Babe Zaharias was played in a best two-ball format. On the front, the team of Adam Noel, Raymond Darbonne, Jerry May and Charles Huckabee won with minus-5. Minus-4 won the back for the foursome of Paul Young, Jim Mercer, B. Benoit and Charles Perez.
Closest to the pin winners were Bob Wactor (No. 2), Richard Briggs (No. 7), Larry Stansbury (No. 12) and Cap Hollier (No. 15). …
Playing in a best two-ball format in the Super Saturday Game at Babe Zaharias, the team of Craig Fontenot, Cody Metts Don MacNeil and Charles Leard won the front with minus-6 and tied the back in minus-6 with the foursome of Bill Hanley, Joe Gongora, Larry Johnson and a ghost player.
The Friday Game at Zaharias was also played in a 2-ball format, with the team of Rick Pritchett, Harry Green, Bill Jones and Larry Rogers scoring a sweep. They were minus-4 on the front and minus-3 on the back.
In the Thursday Senior Game at The Babe, two-man teams competed in a format of best ball on the front and scramble on the back. In first flight, the team of Noel-Wactor tied Bob Barnes-Bob West with a 66. Tom LeTourneau-Charles Leard won second flight with a 70.
In third flight, Paul Duplantis-Ron Overstreet won with a 76. Closest to the pin winners were Harrell Guidry (No. 2), Stansbury (No. 7), Joe Gongora (No. 12) and Ralph Childress (No. 15). …
The Babe Zaharias DogFight was won with 14 points by the team of Noel, Pritchett, John House and Duplantis. Closest to the pin winners were Don Duplan (No.2) and Jeff Rinehart (No.12).

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