How new LGA director plans to grow Louisiana golf
The Louisiana Golf Association isn’t at a tipping point like it was 22 years ago, the first and only other time it hired a full-time executive director. That doesn’t mean, though, that Logan Ray doesn’t have goals.
Ray will take over the LGA’s head position effective with the New Year, replacing the retiring Carr McCalla, and he already has some ideas about how to grow the LGA’s connection with Louisiana golf and make it an even bigger benefit to its members.
“The thing we’re always looking to provide is value added benefits for our members, and that’s not going to change,” said Ray, who has been a part of the LGA staff since 2011. “There are some initiatives that we’ll be a part of and a couple of things we’re going to try with junior golf, but mostly I feel really confident we can build on the success Carr has created for 22 years.”
McCalla announced last month that he would step down from the executive director position at the end of the year, although he will remain with the LGA as a senior adviser for the next three years. It was all but certain that Ray, who had mentored under McCalla and had steadily taken on more and more LGA responsibilities since being named director of championship operations in 2012, would take over the position.
The 18-member LGA board of directors made that official Oct. 4.
“I just feel like the transition is going to be seamless and smooth,” said Ray, a native of Estill Springs, Tennessee, but a Lafayette resident since accepting the USGA’s Boatwright Intern position here in 2011. “Carr’s been preparing me for this for the last several years, and when I met with the board a couple of months ago we mapped out what we felt like was the future of the LGA moving forward.”
The last time the LGA had to fill that spot was in 1995, and there were questions everywhere. At that time, the LGA was a loosely-operated entity manned solely by volunteers, but one that realized it needed full-time leadership and made that happen. McCalla opened a full-time LGA office in Lafayette that year.
“That was a long time before I arrived,” said Ray, who played football and baseball before graduating from Sewanee-University of the South in Tennessee. “But they were at a position back then that it was time to either be a full-service organization or it couldn’t exist in the capacity they needed. Now, the building blocks and the structure are in place.”
During McCalla’s tenure, the LGA became the organization charged with course ratings for all Louisiana courses, as well as the establishment of a computer-linked statewide certified handicap index system that creates a level playing field for all state amateur golfers. Virtually every golf course in Louisiana is a member of the LGA, and has computer facilities that allow players to input scores and instantly get an updated handicap — a huge benefit that provides equitable opportunities for competition regardless of ability level.
The best-known part of the LGA is the championships program which includes eight statewide events, several regional qualifiers and a handful of USGA local and sectional qualifying tournaments. But maybe five percent of golfers statewide participate in those tournaments, and it’s the other 95 percent that get the value of LGA membership through their memberships at local courses.
That’s the area that Ray, director of member services Kyle Nagdeman and two staffers yet to be hired — Ray’s replacement as director of championship operations and a Boatwright Intern for 2018 — spend the majority of their time, and future plans are for expansion of programs to benefit all state golfers and not just the championship participants.
“First and foremost will be junior golf,” Ray said. “Right now we conduct the Junior Amateur, the premier junior tournament in the state for 61 years, but we’d love to be able to provide more competitive experiences for juniors in the state. I see junior golf starting to thrive some in the state with the success of players like Sam Burns and some of the young players coming out of the David Toms Academy, but junior golf is where we can most improve and provide more playing opportunities.”
Ray said the LGA may partner with other organizations in those efforts as well as the USGA, and that won’t be the state group’s only new involvement with the LGA going forward.
The USGA recently announced a program that tabs selected state and regional groups as Allied Golf Associations, and the LGA has been selected as part of that new initiative. As part of that, the LGA and the USGA will partner in areas such as administrating handicaps, providing course rating services, administering the Rules of Golf and the Rules of Amateur Status, recruiting and training volunteers, conducting national championship qualifiers, developing community initiatives and promoting community initiatives developed by the USGA and other national bodies.
The LGA has already shouldered many of those tasks, but those efforts will now be streamlined with the national body’s assistance.
“It’s a little more formal partnership.” Ray said. “We’ll be able to do some co-branding with the USGA, take over some junior qualifying on their behalf, and they’ve got tournament software that we can provide to our member clubs free of charge and give everyone a consistent way to conduct tournaments. It’s going to be a great thing for us and our member clubs.”
Louisiana Women here
The Louisiana Women’s Golf Association will combine two of its premier events into one this weekend, and it’ll be played here in Acadiana.
The LWGA will simultaneously conduct its 19th annual Mid-Amateur (over 25) and its 26th annual Senior Amateur (over 50) Championships Saturday and Sunday at Le Triomphe, with play beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. Sunday in each event.
Participants must have a handicap of 36 or less and be residents of Louisiana for at least 60 days prior to the tournament. The deadline for entries was earlier this week.
Prizes will be awarded in the Mid-Amateur to the champion and medalist in the championship flight and to low gross score and closest to the hole in all flights. The Senior championship will have the same awards and also include low gross score honors in age-65 and age-70 divisions.
Kay Daniel is the defending Mid-Amateur champion and recently crowned Lafayette city champion Julie Harrison is the defending champ in the Senior championship. More information on the events is available from LWGA president Mary Edwards at (318) 403-0111.
USSSA Junior Tour
Kale Fontenot had one of his best outings in his time on the USSSA Junior Tour and one of that group’s top performances of the year last weekend at the Mizuno USSSA Fall Classic at Links on the Bayou in Alexandria.
Fontenot, of Lafayette, posted a solid three-under-par 141 score to claim the title in the boys 12-14 division, with a total of 11 birdies in the two rounds. Fontenot finished eight strokes ahead of his nearest competitor in the division, with Bryce Sutterfield of Opelousas the runner-up at five-over 149.
Other individual winners included Chance Queen of Alexandria, winner of the boys 15-18 title with a 146 score, and Gabriel Wartelle of New Orleans claiming the boys 9-11 division with a 79 score in the two-day, 18-hole tournament.
The USSSA Tour returns to action this weekend, Oct. 21-22, in the Fall Junior Shootout set for Timberlane Country Club in Gretna. That will be followed by the annual Gobbler Tournment Nov. 25-26 at Southern Trace in Shreveport.
Each event features boys’ and girls’ play in three age groups, with boys and girls age 12-14 and 15-18 divisions playing 18 holes daily and boys and girls 9-11 playing nine holes per day. Deadline to enter is Thursday for the Junior Shootout and Nov. 22 for the Gobbler, and more information is available from Robert Boudreaux at (337) 278-8431 or at robert.boudreaux@usssa.com.
Vieux Chenes Seniors
A total of 27 players turned out for the Vieux Chenes Senior Men’s Golf Association October event held Thursday at Les Vieux Chenes, an event that featured a fish fry for all Vieux Chenes Senior members.
The team of Aaron Hollier, Guy Rials, Don Judice and Morris Hoagland posted a 10-under 62 to take top honors, finishing ahead of runners-up Richard Laughlin, Ron Breaux, John Simon and Herb Reites on a scorecard playoff. Glenn Biro, Damon Hanson, Jim Worley and David Chapelle finished third at seven-under 65 and Joe Uze, John Fitzmaurice and Bill LeBlanc finished fourth at six-under 66.
Bill Parrott took closest to the hole honors on the 17th, putting his shot only six inches from the pin.
The group wished to thank Richard Laughlin for providing the fish and Kenny Granger for cooking duties. The next outing for the group is Oct. 26, with registration from 7-7:30 a.m. and play beginning at 8 a.m. Information on the group is available at Les Vieux Chenes or by calling 837-1159.
Arrowhead Tour at The Farm
The Arrowhead Junior Golf Tour will stage one of its events locally this weekend when the tour hosts the AJGT Glenn Armentor Law Corp. Fall Junior Classic at The Farm d’Allie in Carencro.
The two-day, 36-hole event is set for Saturday-Sunday and is open to boys and girls ages 11-18 along with being ranked by the Junior Golf Scoreboard. Entry fee is $195 which includes two days of green fees, tee gifts and trophies in four age divisions.
Deadline for entry is noon Oct. 17, and more information is available from Diane Ford at (985) 630-3066. Online entries are available at www.arrowheadjgt.com.
‘Chicken’ Tournament
The second Jimmy “Chicken” Thomas Classic, washed out by Hurricane Harvey in August, has been rescheduled for Nov. 12-13 at Oakbourne.
The event raises funds for the UL golf team and is one of the major events staged by the Vermilion Links Club, the official support group for Cajun golf. The tournament includes a “meet and greet” with the team on Nov. 12 at 6:30 p.m. at Oakbourne, with the two-man scramble set for a 1 p.m. shotgun start on Nov. 13.
The tournament and accompanying events are open to any golfer who wants to get involved with the UL program and/or the Vermilion Links. Entry for the tournament is complimentary for Links founding members, and spots are also available with a $200 per-player or a $400 per-team entry fee.
More information is available from David Church at 280-2961 or dchurch@dartenergyservices.com, or from UL coach Theo Sliman at 962-3348 or tsliman@louisiana.edu. Players who had previously entered before the rainout are asked to contact Church to reconfirm their entries for the new date.
Bill Bass Open
The Bill Bass Open, the athletic department’s annual Homecoming golf tournament that helps raise funds for the Cajun golf team, is scheduled for Nov. 17, with the four-person scramble having a noon shotgun start at Les Vieux Chenes.
The tournament has featured both morning and afternoon flights in the past few years, but with this year’s Homecoming celebration coming after the end of daylight savings time, only one flight will be staged.
The tournament is open to all golfers and will include lunch before play and awards following the event, as well as an assortment of souvenir tee gifts. Entry fee is $150 per player, with members of the RCAF and the Vermilion Links getting a $25 discount on entry fees.
Entry forms will soon be available at all local courses and golf retailers, and will be mailed to all players who have taken part in the tournament over the past three years. Entries and more information will also be available online at ragincajuns.com in the near future, but information is available now by calling (337) 857-8754.
“Making the Turn” appears each Wednesday from February-November in the Daily Advertiser. Clubs, courses and individuals with information about local golf events may email Dan McDonald, editorial director at Golfballs.com, at danmcdonald@cox.net, FAX to (337) 857-8763 or call (337) 857-8754 and leave a message with phone number.