July 1, 2010 -- Houma, LA -- Chuck Spears of Pineville shot three-under
par 33 on the front side Friday, then hung on to finish with a one-under
71 and capture the 2009 Louisiana Golf Association Junior Amateur
Championship by two shots over a trio of players. He finished 54 holes at
two-under par 214.
Spears entered the day one shot back of second round leader Hayden Bigby
of Bossier City, whose two-over 74 Friday enabled him to finish in a tie
for second with Myles Lewis of Metairie and Adam Galliano of Baton Rouge,
who each shot one-under 71s in the final round Friday. Spears, who started
the Championship on Wednesday with a 74, played his last 36 holes
four-under par with a 69, including seven birdies, on Thursday and today’s
71.
Second round leader Bigby got off to a rocky start Friday with bogeys on
#3 and #4, quickly falling a couple shots back of Spears. Spears birdied
#2, #6, and #7 to shoot his 33 on the front and take a commanding lead
into the back nine holes. Galliano shot one-under 35 on the front, with
Lewis shooting an even par 36, including a double bogey six on the fifth
hole when he hit his second shot into Spanish moss high in a tree just
short and left of the green. The ball never came out and he was forced to
play it as a lost ball.
Spears played a conservative back nine, making bogeys on the long par
three 13th and the par four 15th. Routine pars on #16, #17, and #18 sealed
the deal for the youngster from central Louisiana.
Fifth place went to Jordan Karam of Lake Charles, who had a one-over 73 on
Friday for a 54 hole total of 217, with Taylor Billings of Kenner
finishing sixth at 220. Jess Savoie of LaRose finished in seventh at 221,
with Eric Ricard of Shreveport and Lewis Peters of Lake Charles tying for
eighth at 222. Michael Fontenot of Lake Charles finished alone in tenth
place at 223.
Spears joins Hal Sutton, David Toms, Willie Wood, and Brain Bateman as LGA
Junior Amateur Champions by winning the 53rd edition of this, the most
prestigious Junior Championship in the state.
Winners of the first and second flights in the overall championship were:
1st Flight – Connor Johnson of Baton Rouge/224, 2nd Flight – Jack Clyde of
Sulphur/232.
This year’s Championship was played at Ellendale Country Club in Houma.
Conditions continued to be extremely wet from the over 7 inches of rain
the course took on since early this week. The Ellendale CC course, known
for its small greens and narrow tree-lined fairways, played to a par of 72
at approximately 6,600 yards for this field of the best Junior players in
the state.
The 2011 LGA Junior Amateur Championship will be held at Beaver Creek Golf
Club in Baton Rouge, July 6-8, 2011.
