Don't tell his former teachers, but Michael Smith used to cut class in high school to go out to Oakbourne and watch the Louisiana Classics golf tournament.

"The 36-hole day on Monday, I was always there," Smith said.

B. C. Thibeaux was still in middle school, and he was giving course advice to players nearly twice his age.

"I'd play with the guys from Florida and SMU," Thibeaux said, "telling them little tricks about the course."

Morgan Landry watched guys not that much older than he, hoping he'd get his turn.

"I remember thinking I wanted to be out there playing," Landry said.

Being at Oakbourne wasn't anything unusual for any of the three. They basically cut their teeth learning the nuances of those tricky greens and battling the winds that seem to spring up in the spring.

Two years ago, all three signed golf scholarships with the University of Louisiana, and one of the reasons for those signatures was the Louisiana Classics.

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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com