Choudrant, Louisiana February 24, 2019
It was a historic weekend at Squire Creek Country Club. The inaugural Sam Burns Junior Four-Ball Championship kicked off the Louisiana Junior Golf Tour in impressive fashion. Jack Gilbert of Houston, Texas and Jack Usner of Shenandoah, Texas claimed the title in the Boys Division after winning a sudden death playoff over Walter Anderson and BJ Rogillio of Baton Rouge. Gilbert and Usner fired rounds of 67 and 69 to finish at eight-under par 136. The playoff commenced on the par 4 18th hole (395 yards), and Gilbert ended it quickly by bombing his drive down the center of the fairway, hitting his approach shot tight to several feet from the hole, and then draining the birdie putt. Abbey Daniel of Covington and Cassidy Lambert of Gretna won the Girls’ Division by eight shots after carding rounds of 72 and 71 to finish at one-under par 143 for the championship.
Rounding out the top 5 in the Boys Division are: T3) Nate Stember (Portland, OR)/Jacob Tarkany (Scottsdale, AZ) 70-70/140, T3) Canon Clark (Lafayette, LA)/Boyd Owens (Baton Rouge, LA) 69-71/140, T5) Ethan Dial/Eli Hill (Bossier City, LA) 71-71/142, and T5) Johnathan Ellis and Lance Yates (Baton Rouge, LA) 70-72/142. Karan Patel and Chance Queen of Alexandria were the only other team to finish under par for the championship (69-74/143). Clark and Owens were awarded the 15-under low medalists, since Gilbert and Usner won the first prize crystal and were precluded from winning both the overall prizes and 15-under medals.
Emily Lauterbach (Hartland, WI)/Chloe Tarkany (Scottsdale, AZ) finished runner-up in the Girls’ Division while Hannah Hinckley (McComb, MS)/Grace Sinclair (Brandon, MS) finished third.
The first round of play was delayed due to inclement weather and suspended due to darkness Saturday evening. Play resumed at 7:53 AM on Sunday, and the total time to complete the first round from start to finish was nineteen hours and thirty minutes. Players remained in their first-round pairing groups and played continuous golf into their second round. Even with the challenges that the weather presented, the event was a tremendous success and a wonderful way to begin the Louisiana Junior Golf Tour. Players had the privilege to hear from PGA Tour pro and event host Sam Burns on Saturday morning prior to beginning their first round of play. Burns provided incredible insight on what it takes to make it to the highest level of golf, his time competing in the LGA Junior Amateur, and the rewarding experience of college golf at LSU. Burns inspired the field of 88 players to work hard and chase their dreams.
Sunday’s round began at 7:53 AM, with temperatures in the high 40s. The Boys Division was played 6,500 yards and the Girl Division played 5,400 yards. Soggy conditions prevented any roll out, making the golf course play considerably longer than the yardage on the scorecard. Wind was a factor early on Sunday, making shot selection difficult. The local rule lift, clean, and replace was enacted for both rounds of championship play.
Click here to view final scores.
Each player on the Championship team will receive 80 points in the LJGT Player of the Year race. The runner-up team receives 70 points each while the third-place teams garnered 60 points apiece. Click here to view the POY breakdown through the first event of the season.
The LJGT will return to the Tom Fazio designed Squire Creek CC, June 13-14 and the next event on the schedule is June 5-6 at Oakbourne Country Club in Lafayette.