Throughout Acadiana, high school golf teams vied for the right to be called state champions at multiple courses in our area. Farm D’ Allie in Carencro, Bayou Bend Country Club in Crowley, Cane Row in New Iberia, the Wetlands in Lafayette, and Les Vieux Chenes in Youngsville all hosted state tournaments this week.
Here’s a breakdown of each division and who took home the trophy:
Boys Division I
C.E. Byrd held a 13-shot lead heading into the final day, but a late surge by one of their rivals in Benton High made things entertaining, and Byrd wound up winning the team title by just three strokes.
As for the individual title, that was won by Drew Silman from Zachary after shooting a two-under 70 both days of the tournament. He spent the final day chasing Carter Schmitt of Catholic-Baton Rouge, who was leader after day one. Silman birdied six of his first 12 holes Tuesday to get the victory.
Boys Division II
St Louis Catholic captured the team title at The Wetlands after two-straight rounds of sub-300 team golf. They won the two-day event by 13 strokes over St Thomas More, the defending champions in Div II.
Collin Jones of Westlake took home the individual title with two rounds of one-under golf. He birdied both par fives on the back nine to win the championship by one stroke over Dax Reaux of Teurlings Catholic.
Boys Division III
In what should come as no surprise, Ascension Episcopal dominated the field en route to their fifth straight title as a team. Shooting 567 as a team at Cane Row Golf & Turf Club, they won the two-day event by an astonishing 35 strokes. The next closest team was Loyola Prep at 602. The success of the Blue Gators was due in large part to Kale Fontenot, who led after day one, and Jay Mendell, who had an run to secure the individual title shooting 12-under for the event.
Fontenot shot 11-under in the tournament, but Mendell was the story as he overcame being the runner-up a year ago to shoot the lowest score in any division since the golf championships came to Lafayette in 2014.
Boys Division IV
Episcopal of Acadiana recorded the lowest score out of any team on Tuesday after generating a 16-stroke lead Monday to capture the team title with an 18-stroke advantage over two-time defending champion Ouachita Christian, who scored a total score of 628. Quitman finished in third with a score of 631.
On the individual side, Logan Heltz of Christ Episcopal had an incredible tournament, including 15 pars and two birdies in his second round on Tuesday for a total score of 136, capturing the state title as a freshman.
Heltz finished as the runner-up last year as an eighth-grader before winning the title this time around with a six-stroke lead over Cole Haase of Riverside Academy. Adam Trahan and Riggs Ryan, both from ESA in Cade, finished in the top five.
Girls Division I
Barbe rode the performances of two of their players finishing in the top four to win the team title in Girls Division I at Les Vieux Chenes Golf Course in Youngsville.
Isabella Callaba finished third with a score of 156 with Mattie Purgahn finished fourth at 160, winning the third straight title for the Buccaneers. Barbe won the tournament by 44 strokes over Sacred Heart of New Orleans and Northshore.
Sacred Heart of New Orleans did bring home an individual title, with Jade Neves inching out a close victory over the defending champion in Teagan Connors of the Willow School. Neves, a seventh-grader, scored three birdies in the round including on the 18th to seal the title.
Girls Division II
Ursuline Academy won their second straight team title Tuesday in Youngsville, winning by 13 strokes over St Martin’s and Ascension Christian. Ursuline won the title last year by a massive 27-stroke margin and put two players in the top 10 with Arianna Blagrove finishing in third.
St. Martin’s may have finished second in the team rankings, but Morgan Guepet won her third consecutive individual title for the school after shooting five under in the first round and one under on Tuesday. Guepet shot 15 pars and two birdies in her final round Tuesday.