LAFAYETTE – For the sixth time, Louisiana’s best high school golfers will converge on Acadiana Monday and Tuesday as the area hosts the 2021 Allstate Sugar Bowl LHSAA state boys’ and girls’ golf championships.
Championship play begins Monday with the first of two 18-hole rounds, with approximately 250 boys’ and girls’ qualifiers from last week’s regional competitions taking part in six divisions determined by enrollment.
Boys’ Divisions I and III will compete at The Farm d’Allie Golf Club (6,516 yards, par 72) in Carencro, boys’ divisions II and IV will compete at The Wetlands (6,348 yards, par 72) in Lafayette, and girls’ Divisions I and II will compete at Les Vieux Chenes (5,679 yards, women’s par 74) in Youngsville.
Play will begin at 8 a.m. in boys’ Divisions I and II, 9 a.m. in girls’ Divisions I and II and 12:30 p.m. in boys’ Divisions III and IV on Monday.
Teams play 18-hole rounds on both Monday and Tuesday with team and individual awards presented after Tuesday’s final rounds.
The 2020 state tournament was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but four of the six team champions from 2019 made their way back into the state field through regional qualifying, including one team that will be gunning for a third straight boys’ state crown.
Ascension Episcopal of Youngsville won titles in both 2018 and 2019, and senior UL signee Eli Ortego is also the two-time defending individual champion in Division III.
C. E. Byrd of Shreveport has won the Division I boys’ title five times in the last six years, including winning the 2019 title by a five-shot margin. Byrd was the top qualifier out of Region I held at Cypress Bend, winning by 17 shots.
The road to the state meet for the other two returning champions wasn’t as easy. St. Thomas More of Lafayette, which won the 2019 Division II boys title, finished third in its regional competition held at Links on the Bayou, and girls’ 2019 Division I champion C. E. Byrd of Shreveport was second in its regional tournament held at The National Golf Club.
Ortego is the only individual champion back from the 2019 event, shooting two-under 73-69—142 to win that crown, but several other top finishers return in all six divisions. Harry West of St Edmund was second in the 2019 boys’ Division IV tournament, Zach Hardy of St. Thomas More tied for second in the Division II boys’ event and Eli Hill of Airline tied for fourth in Division I boys in 2019.
The state tournaments are open to the public at no charge at all three sites. A limited number of carts are available for rental to spectators at all three courses.