3rd, 2nd, 1st
It can't get much funner than that in the world of collegiate tournament golf.
Now an auto bid to the NCAA's ..O..
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3rd, 2nd, 1st
It can't get much funner than that in the world of collegiate tournament golf.
Now an auto bid to the NCAA's ..O..
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ORLANDO, Fla.-Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns golf team needed more than 18 holes on the final day to claim their first Sun Belt Conference Golf Championship in 10 years. The Cajuns edged Middle Tennessee in a playoff to claim the 2007 SBC Tournament.
The win marks the third Sun Belt Conference title for the Cajuns. The Cajuns also won the Sun Belt in 1993 and 1997.
In the 10 years since the Cajuns have won their last championship, UL has finished either second or third five times.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am to win,” head coach Bob Bass commented on his team’s first conference championship since 1997. “It has been almost 10 years since my last victory and we have been close for a couple of years coming in second by one stroke just two years ago.
“This bunch of guys has been working hard to get better and get tougher,” Bass added. “It has paid off for them and I couldn’t be happier.”
The Cajuns opened the tournament in a tie for third place with Denver. After the first round, UL saw themselves trailing the leader New Orleans by 12 strokes after carding a team score of 297.
The Ragin’ Cajuns trimmed the UNO lead to just five strokes after a second round team score of 290. UL’s second round effort lifted the Cajuns into sole possession of second place.
The Cajuns lowered their team score eight more strokes on the final round to card 282 as a team. The six-under par score combined with a round of even par for the Privateers lifted the Cajuns over UNO on the leaderboard. However, a seven-under par score from Middle Tennessee forced a playoff between the Cajuns and the Blue Raiders.
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Chris WhiteHead
RaginCajuns.com
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It took just one playoff hole for the Cajuns to claim their third Sun Belt Conference golf title. Middle Tennessee collected four pars on the playoff hole. The Cajuns, on the other hand, turned in three pars, but Michael Smith birdied for the win.
“Obviously, we played very well to come from behind 12 strokes and come back and win in a playoff,” Bass said of the team’s performance.
No Cajuns player shot more than two-over par in the final round of competition and all five of the UL players finished in the top 25.
Individually, the Cajuns were led by Peter Badawy. The Cajuns’ lone senior carded his second straight round of 69 to finish the tournament at four under par. Badawy’s four-under par performance was good enough for second place.
Justin Lowe turned in a two-under par scorecard of 70 in his final round to finish the tournament in a tie for sixth place. Lowe lowered his score by two strokes each day, carding an opening round of 74; a second round score of 72; and a final round of 70.
Smith and Devin Carrey both finished in a tie for 16th place. Smith carded a final round of 74, while Carrey turned in a two-under par scorecard of 70.
Rounding out the scoring for the Cajuns was Morgan Landry. The junior from Lafayette carded a one-over par round of 73 to tie for 24th.
Final Round Results
1. University of Louisiana**................... 297-290-282--869
Middle Tennessee.......................... 298-290-281--869
3. New Orleans................................. 285-297-288--870
4. Denver.......................................... 297-294-287--878
5. North Texas.................................. 296-294-291--881
6. Western Kentucky......................... 303-294-296--893
7. Troy.............................................. 307-304-287--898
8. South Alabama.............................. 304-303-296--903
9. Arkansas State.............................. 308-303-294--905
10. Louisiana-Monroe......................... 308-305-306--919
11. UALR........................................... 318-308-298--924
12. Florida Atlantic.............................. 311-310-306--927
** - won in a playoff
Ragin’ Cajuns Results
2 Peter Badawy............................. 74-69-69--212
T-6 Justin Lowe................................ 74-72-70--216
T-16 Michael Smith............................. 76-72-74--222
T-16 Devin Carrey.............................. 75-77-70--222
T-24 Morgan Landry.......................... 74-77-73--224
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For some reason I could tell they were heating up.Quote:
Originally Posted by Turbine
Counting the last round before the SB tourney this team is on fire.
Congrats on a great regular season, a Sun Belt Championship and continued success in the NCAA's
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UL's golf team was the picture of frustration two years ago when the Ragin' Cajuns had the Sun Belt Conference title pulled from under their spikes by a late South Ala-bama charge.
Michael Smith remembered the feeling of that one-stroke loss well when he stood over an eight-foot birdie putt during a sudden-death playoff for the league title Wednesday.
"When we lost by one my freshman year, it hurt a lot," Smith said.
Smith made sure he and his teammates wouldn't feel that way again, rolling in a birdie on the par-four playoff hole Wednesday. That putt, and clinching par putts by Peter Badawy and Justin Lowe, gave the Cajuns their first Sun Belt title since 1997 with a playoff vicory over Middle Tennessee at the Walt Disney World's Magnolia course in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com
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"We've been so close for so many years," said Cajun coach Bob Bass. "This bunch of guys has been working to get better and to get tougher, and it's paid off for them. I couldn't be happier."
UL, now bound for the NCAA Championships in May with the Sun Belt's automatic bid, finished tied with Middle at five-over 869 for the three rounds. Both were one stroke ahead of first and second-day leader New Orleans (870) and put the teams into a sudden-death playoff.
Middle, which had the day's low round with a seven-under 281 team score, recorded four pars on the playoff-originating 16th hole. UL, playing behind the Blue Raiders, picked up three pars along with Smith's birdie putt to claim its third Sun Belt crown.
Smith, a Lafayette product, hit his second shot from the left rough within eight feet. Three other Cajuns were anywhere from 18 to 30 feet away.
Devin Carrey had a tap-in two-putt par from 18 feet, Badawy rolled his 30-footer within two feet, and Lowe narrowly missed his 18-foot birdie putt. That left it to Smith.
"We both looked at it and decided it was perfectly straight," Bass said. "That can be a hard putt to hit, but he hit it dead center."
Badawy then made his two-footer, capping a strong par, and Lowe's 12-incher clinched the title.
Badawy finished with a second straight 69 to finish at four-under 212 for the tournament, but it was his par in the playoff that may have saved the title. His tee shot rolled through the left side of the fairway and into a high-lipped bunker 132 yards from the green.
"To get that onto the green was just a terrific shot," Bass said. "His par from the sand was critical."
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The team has been working hard. It is nice to see them put up some low numbers that are reflective of the talent that they have on the team.
Congratulations and let's keep it going in the NCAA's.
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ORLANDO – Denver’s women and Louisiana-Lafayette’s men picked up the championship trophies at the 2007 Sun Belt Conference Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships on Wednesday afternoon.
The Pioneer women shot a three round total of 829 (+29) to take the women’s crown. The team fired a 297 on Wednesday to keep runner-up Florida International at bay, who shot a tournament best 293. FIU finished +42 over and was led by Maria Hernandez who finished in third with a 223, seven-over par.
Freshman Stephanie Sherlock was the individual winner of the women’s tournament, shooting three-over par (219) to earn an All-Conference automatic selection. Sherlock was also named the Freshman of the Year. Teammates Emily Hoeper (+6, 222) and Katie Kempter (+8, 224) also joined Sherlock on the All-Conference team. All three Pioneers finished in the top five at the tournament.
The men’s race was much closer and came down to a two-team playoff between ULL and Middle Tennessee. Last year’s tournament came down to a three-team playoff with WKU prevailing. Both teams started on the one hole and that is where it would finish. ULL made a birdie putt to give them the 2007 team title.
The Ragin’ Cajuns were led by Peter Badawy who finished in second place after shooting a third round 69. Badawy finished four-under par for the tournament.
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MT’s freshman Craig Smith took home the men’s title after shooting a tournament best 66 in the final round to finish five-under par. His three round total was 211. Smith was also named the freshman of the year.
Longtime Blue Raider coach Johnny Moore was named the Men’s Coach of the Year while Denver’s Sammie Chergo was named the Women’s Coach of the Year.
Women’s All-Conference Team
Stephanie Sherlock – Denver
Emily Hoeper – Denver
Maria Hernandez – Florida International
Katie Kempter – Denver
Taryn Durham – Middle Tennessee
Michelle Toth – USA
* Sara Wikstrom - UALR
* Praewnapa Phol-Uayporn – Florida Atlantic
* Susan Nam – Florida International
* Angela Drane – Louisiana-Monroe
* Elin Andersson – South Alabama
* Sara Marti – South Alabama
Men’s All-Conference Team
Craig Smith – Middle Tennessee
Peter Badawy – Louisiana-Lafayette
Dustin Thompson – North Texas
Jose Toledo – New Orleans
Jason Kuperman – New Orleans
Justin Lowe – Louisiana-Lafayette
Chris Gilman – Denver
Chas Narramore – Middle Tennessee
* Charlie Soule - Denver
* David McKendrick – Louisiana-Monroe
* Jonny Caldwell – South Alabama
* Kyle Simmons – South Alabama -->
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The UL golf team didn't care much about the travel inconvenience last week.
So what if the Ragin' Cajuns missed their flight home because of a playoff? The plane might have been overweight, anyway - it had to carry an unexpected conference championship trophy.
"We didn't mind being delayed for a night," Cajun coach Bob Bass said after his squad captured its first Sun Belt Conference title in a decade last Wednesday. "It gave us a chance to celebrate a little bit."
The Cajuns made up five strokes on front-running New Orleans (in fact, 12 over the final two rounds) and survived a sudden-death playoff with Middle Tennessee to claim the league crown at Walt Disney World's Magnolia course in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The playoff kept UL from making its flight connections home, but the team arrived back in Lafayette one day later and a lot happier than its most recent conference tournament trips.
The win also extended the Cajuns' season. UL, with little chance of gaining an at-large bid to the NCAA regional tournament, claimed the league's automatic berth and is bound for the May 17-19 regionals.
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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com
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The Cajuns will likely play in the Central Regional, set for the Rich Harvest Farm course in Sugar Grove, Ill., hosted by Northern Illinois. However, the NCAA golf committee can position teams in any of the three regionals in order to balance the field. Because of that, UL could wind up in the East Regional at The Golf Club of Georgia in Alpharetta, Ga., hosted by Georgia Tech, or the West Regional at the Karsten Golf Course at Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz.
"They can put you anywhere now," Bass said. "We'll have to wait and see."
UL will find out its fate on Monday, May 7, when the pairings are posted at 5 p.m. online at www.ncaasports.com. The top teams and individuals in each regional - a number of teams to be determined after regional assignments - advance to the national meet May 30-June 2 at the Golden Horseshoe Golf Club Gold Course in Williamsburg, Va.
The Cajuns hadn't won a conference title since 1997, even though finishing second or third five times since then. The most disappointing of those close calls came two seasons ago when UL appeared to be on its way to the title at PGA Village in Port St. Lucie, Fla., before a Cajun bogey and a South Alabama birdie on the final hole created a two-shot swing and gave USA a one-stroke victory.
It looked like history was repeating itself Wednesday, with the Cajuns holding a three-shot lead at the final hole before senior Peter Badawy got in trouble twice on the par-4 18th hole. Badawy was a sterling 6-under for the day at the time, but his triple-bogey 7 cost him the individual title by one stroke and left UL deadlocked with Middle at 5-over 869 for the three rounds.
However, after Middle recorded four pars from its squad on the par-4 16th hole where the playoff began, Badawy had a remarkable second shot out of a fairway bunker and saved par. His two-foot putt came moments after junior Michael Smith's eight-footer for birdie put the Cajuns in position to win the crown.
"Michael making birdie made my putt a lot easier," Badawy said.
"We knew at that point we couldn't lose on the first hole," Bass said. "The worst we could do was go to the second hole."
Badawy, Smith, Morgan Landry and Justin Lowe were all on the squad that came up one shot short in the 2005 Sun Belt meet.
"It was pretty exciting," Smith said. "With the way we lost by a shot in my freshman year, it makes it feel a whole lot better."
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Nice to see a brite spot in the UL program. Geaux-Cajuns
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NEW ORLEANS-The Sun Belt Conference announced their 2007 All-Sun Belt Conference selections and Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns golf team had two players named to the team. Senior Peter Badawy and junior Justin Lowe were both named All-Conference based on their top-10 performances in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
Badawy and Lowe helped the Ragin’ Cajuns to their first Sun Belt Conference title in 10 years.
Badawy finished the tournament with a pair of three-under par rounds of 69 to finish four-under par for the tournament and claim second place overall.
Lowe improved his scorecard two strokes each round to finish the tournament at even par. His final round score of 70 helped the Pineville native to a tie for sixth place.
The duo also earned all-conference honors during the 2005 Sun Belt Conference Tournament. Lowe finished that tournament at even par to finish in fourth place, while Badawy finished one stroke over par to tie for fifth.
Badawy and Lowe were two of eight automatic all-conference selections.
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Chris Whitehead
RaginCajuns.com
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Other members of the All-Sun Belt team include: Craig Smith (Middle Tennessee), Dustin Thompson (North Texas), Jose Toledo (New Orleans), Jason Kuperman (New Orleans), Chris Gilman (Denver), Chas Narramore (Middle Tennessee), Charlie Soule* (Denver), David McKendrick* (Louisiana-Monroe), Jonny Caldwell* (South Alabama) and Kyle Simmons* (South Alabama).
Soule, Mckendrick, Caldwell and Simmons were all selected by an at-large vote.
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