Division II Boys
CARENCRO (Press Release) – St. Thomas More’s Matt Weber turned in the lowest score of the day by eight strokes and breezed to the boys’ Division II individual title Tuesday at the Allstate Sugar Bowl LHSAA State Golf Championships.
The UL signee posted a one-over 73 score in Tuesday’s final round over the 6,516-yard par-72 The Farm d’Allie course, and was one of only two players to break 80 out of the 49-player field. Weber, last year’s individual runner-up, had posted a two-over 74 on Monday and held a three-stroke lead entering the final round.
Weber helped lead St. Thomas More to the team championship, after the Cougars finished as runner-up last year. STM had a team 326 score to go with its first-round 314 that gave them a nine-stroke lead on the field, and finished 13 strokes ahead of runner-up St. Louis at 653.
Benton finished third with a 670 score, while host Teurlings Catholic was fourth at 702.
St. Thomas More had three of the top four individual finishers in posting the day’s best team score.
Weber had four birdies in Tuesday’s final round and was never headed, ending up with an 11-stroke victory over a threesome that included teammates Sam Stonecipher and Zach Hardy as well as Zane Blanchard of Assumption.
Connor Welsh of St. Louis finished fifth at 162 after tying for the third-best round of the day at 80, while Brett Ardoin of St. Louis and Ryan Steed of Benton tied for sixth at 163. Dane Cessac of North Vermilion had the day’s second-low round and the only other sub-80 round with a 79, and finished tied for 12th at 167.
Division III Boys
LAFAYETTE (Press Release) – Ascension Episcopal’s Eli Ortego eagled the par-five 14th hole to take the individual lead and parred the rest of the way to claim the Division III boys’ individual title Tuesday at the Allstate Sugar Bowl LHSAA State Golf Championships.
Ortego, a sophomore, won his second straight state title and also led his Ascension Episcopal team to its second straight team championship. The Blue Gators were one behind Catholic-New Iberia and University after Monday’s first round with a 309 score but turned in a team 297 total Tuesday – the day’s low round by 17 strokes — over the 6,348-yard par-72 The Wetlands course.
Along with Ortego, sophomore Jude Ardoin (82), freshmen Canon Clark (73) and Bryce Sutterfield (78) and eighth-grader Jay Mendell (77) made up the AES team that won last year’s title with no player above freshman classification.
Loyola Prep, which had the best scores in the division in regional competition, finished as runner-up at 625, while University and Catholic-New Iberia finished third and fourth at 629 and 631 respectively.
Ortego trailed Holden Webb of Loyola Prep and Clayton Brown of University by one stroke after his opening 73 on Monday, and was still two strokes behind Boyd Owens of Episcopal-Baton Rouge at Tuesday’s turn after Owens shot two-under 34 on the front side.
Ortego birdied the par-five 11th hole and then hit his second shot within six feet on the 520-yard par-five 14th, making the eagle putt to take the individual lead. He went on to finish 73-69—142, while Owens was hurt by a triple bogey seven on the par-four 10th hole and tied for second at 73-72—145 with Tuesday’s second-lowest round.
Webb (72-73—145) also tied for second, Ryan Dupuy of Dunham was fourth at 147 and Brown finished fifth at 150.
Division IV Boys
CARENCRO (Press Release) – Episcopal of Acadiana’s Oliver Nickel, the runner-up in last year’s boys Division IV tournament, jumped up to the top spot in a big way Tuesday and took a runaway win in the Allstate Sugar Bowl LHSAA State Golf Championships.
Nickel had the low round of the day for the second straight day Tuesday, turning in a one-under-par 71 over the 6,516-yard par-72 The Farm d’Allie course. His two-day 143 total was good enough for a nine-stroke margin over Harry West of St. Edmund in the race for the individual title, after Nickel led the field by five shots following Monday’s round.
ESA also had the low team round of the day with a 371 total, but that wasn’t enough to overhaul Hathaway for the team title. Hathaway, last year’s fourth-place finisher, had a four-stroke lead on the field with a 370 in Monday’s opening round and followed that with a 378 total Tuesday to win the team title by eight strokes over ESA, which finished as team runner-up for the second straight year.
St. Frederick’s, the defending Division IV champion, finished third at 769 and St. Mary’s, which trailed Hathaway by four strokes in second place entering the final round, finished fourth at 772.
Nickel had two birdies on his front nine Tuesday and locked up the individual title when he eagled the 480-yard par-five 11th hole, hitting a second-shot wedge to 12 feet and making the eagle putt. He then added birdies at the par-three 13th and the par-four 16th on his way to a one-under 35 on the back side.
West finished with the day’s second-lowest round, and his 77-75—152 was good enough for runner-up honors. Jace LeJeune of Hathaway led the winning team with a 158 score for third place individually, while Hayden Ginn of Cedar Creek and Patrick Cancienne of Hanson tied for fourth at 166.
