Louisiana Golf Association Announces 2006 Championship Schedule
The Louisiana Golf Association announced its 2006 Championship Schedule on Wednesday. The LGA will again conduct nine (9) Championship and thirteen (13) qualifying events during 2006, beginning in late April with the Club Team Championship and concluding in late August with the Net Amateur and Net Club Team Championships.
The extremely popular 4-Ball Championship, in past years held in mid to late September, will be conducted July 22-23 at Ellendale CC in Houma. The date change was precipitated by the increasing difficulty in finding a fall date that doesn’t conflict with state football schedules as well as to give the opportunity for collegiate players to compete. The remainder of the 2006 schedule basically mirrors dates from a year ago.
“We’re very excited about our Championship venues for the coming year,” said LGA Executive Director, Carr McCalla. “Carter Plantation and The University Club will be hosting LGA Championships for the first time ever and our other sites include some of the top courses in the state. We continue to be so appreciative that our Member Clubs support the LGA by allowing us the use of their courses so that we can provide the top venues in the state for our events.”
The LGA’s 87th Amateur Championship, an event that crowned its first champion in 1920, will be conducted June 8-11 at The Country Club of Louisiana in Baton Rouge, a Jack Nicklaus design always rated as one of the top courses in Louisiana by Golf Digest. This will be only the second LGA Championship hosted by the club, having also served as host to this Championship in 1999.
The University Club of Baton Rouge, scheduled to have hosted the 2005 4-Ball Championship that was cancelled by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, will welcome the 2006 Mid-Amateur Championship August 4-6. An extremely popular site, the University Club was designed by 1999 and 2001 LGA Senior Amateur Champion and Shreveport resident Jim Lipe.
Oakbourne Country Club in Lafayette and Bayou DeSiard Country Club in Monroe will host the Senior Amateur and Junior Amateur, respectively, making this perhaps the best schedule ever for the four major LGA events.
Qualifiers will again be conducted for both the Amateur and Mid-Amateur Championships. Six sites around the state (New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe, and Shreveport) will conduct sectional qualifying rounds for all entrants not exempt into Championship round play. In addition, as was the case in 2005, the LGA will also conduct a seventh qualifying site (for the Amateur Championship only) in the Houma area.
Other sites in 2006 include: Copper Mill Golf Club/Zachary (Club Team Championship), The David Toms designed Carter Plantation/Springfield (Senior Four-Ball), and Beaver Creek Golf Club,/Zachary (Net Am and Net Club Team).
As has been the case over the last few years, in addition to the Overall Championship, concurrent Age-Group Championships for Age-Groups 60-64 and 65-69 will be conducted at the Senior Amateur and Senior Four-Ball events. Individuals 70 & over may elect to compete in the Overall Championship by playing from the same tees as the Overall competitors but will also have the option of competing only in their Age Group division and playing from a more forward set of tees.
The LGA Net Amateur Championship will move to a new venue in 2006. Beaver Creek Golf Club in Zachary, site of last year’s LGA Junior Amateur Championship will host this event that was held for the first six years of its existence at Pelican Point GC in Gonzales. The Net Am, an event that the LGA initiated to provide a true Championship for the higher handicap golfer, continues to grow and will also again crown a Net Club Team Champion in 2006, as has been the case since 2003. In order to participate in the Net Am, one must have a USGA Handicap Index computed through the LGA Handicap Network.
LGA Championship events are open to members of LGA Member Clubs. For more information on LGA Championship events, how to become an LGA Member Club, or how to become a participant club in the LGA Handicap Network please contact the LGA at 337-265-3938.