Choudrant, Louisiana June 13, 2019
It was a beautiful day of golf at Squire Creek Country Club in Choudrant as Louisiana’s best junior golfers played the top ranked golf course in the state. The Louisiana Junior Golf Tour (LJGT) at Squire Creek kicked off at 7:30 AM under perfect conditions. The course played to a par 72 at 6,602 yards, and at the end of the day, no golfers finished in red numbers. Ethan Dial of Bossier City carded the best round of the day, an even par 72. Dial’s solid play included five birdies and five bogeys. Noah McWilliams of Benton trails Dial by one shot with 18 holes left to play after a solid opening round 73. A jampacked leaderboard includes five players within three shots. Rounding out the top 5 are: Boyd Owens of Baton Rouge (74), Oliver Nickel of Crowley (75), Walter Anderson of Baton Rouge (75), and Griffin Dorr of New Orleans (75).
Kaitlyn Montoya of Shreveport and Sarah Meral of Abita Springs are tied atop the Girls’ Division after opening round 76’s. Montoya claimed the shot of the day when she holed out for eagle with an 8-iron from 120 yards at the par 4 7th hole. The leaders have a four-shot lead over Bridget Ma of Napierville, Illinois and Eila Galitsky of Thornhill, Ontario, Canada.
Ethan Dial’s low round of the day started with a birdie on the short par 4 1st hole. He would make two tough bogeys on the 2nd and 3rd holes, but he was able to right the ship making three consecutive pars on holes 4, 5, and 6. Another bogey at difficult par 4 7th hole would lead to a two-over par 38 at the turn. The back nine was another story, and Dial would card four birdies to just two bogeys including back-to-back birdies on the 17th and 18th holes to close out his round with a two-under 34, for an even par 72.
The Tom Fazio designed Squire Creek Country Club was in impeccable condition for this event. Superintendent Nick Cauley and his staff did an excellent job getting the course in championship condition. The golf course drew rave reviews from the best junior competitors in the region. As mentioned above the course played to a par 72 at 6,602 yards for the Overall Boys Division and 5,341 yards for the Overall Girls Division and Boys 11-13.
Click here to view pairings and starting times for Friday’s Final Round.
Click here to view results.