The University of Louisiana (to be) duo of Michael Smith and B.C. Thibeaux carded back-to-back 65’s for a 14-under 130 total, and that was good enough to take the title of the Southern Tradition Junior Four-Ball at the Links on the Bayou in Alexandria last week.

Smith and Thibeaux, products of St. Thomas More and Teurlings Catholic respectively and bound for Louisiana's golf team in the fall, entered the final round of the boys 16-18 division four strokes behind Matt Hungerman of Mandeville and Thomas Galloway of Covington. However, the pair shot six-under over the final nine holes to overtake the first-round leaders.

Smith, who finished fourth in the State Amateur at Oakbourne in June, holed a 95-yard wedge for an eagle on 16 to help offset an 18th-hole bogey and take a one-stroke win in the tournament formerly known as the Louisiana Junior Four-Ball.

“We learned a lesson from a four-ball we played together in Lafayette earlier this year,” said Thibeaux. “We need to just play our games and not worry about our partner. We tried to help each other too much in our first four-ball and we found out it didn’t work.”

University of Louisiana coach Bob Bass’ other incoming freshman recruits — Lafayette High’s Morgan Landry and Tioga’s Justin Lowe — also played in that event. Lowe, in fact, teamed with Smith’s younger brother Petey Smith to finish tied for fourth at 133 and record the low round of the tournament’s second day with an eight-under 64.

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