Junior Amateur Championship

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Contact: Carr McCalla

 

ANDREW LOUPE OF BATON ROUGE WINS THE 2005 LOUISIANA GOLF ASSOCIATION JUNIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

 

Zachary, Louisiana                    July 1, 2005

 

Leading by one shot going into Friday’s final round, Andrew Loupe of Baton Rouge eagled the par-5 second hole for the second consecutive day en route to winning the 48^th edition of the Louisiana Golf Association Junior Amateur Championship.

 

After his eagle on Hole #2, Loupe made seven consecutive pars to close out the outward nine in two-under par 34, which put him at seven-under par for the Championship.  Playing in the group behind Loupe was the 2004 LGA Junior Amateur Champion, Thomas Galloway of Covington, who got off to a strong start by making birdies on two of his first seven holes, but had a set back at the par-3 eighth hole by making a double bogey.  Following a birdie at the difficult ninth hole, Galloway made the turn one-shot back of Loupe.  Also one-shot back was Ryan Peters of Destrehan who was playing in the final group with Loupe.  Peters had a quiet front nine with one birdie and one bogey. 

 

Following birdies on Holes #10, 11, and 13 and a Loupe bogey at #12, Galloway found himself in the lead.  However Galloway’s lead didn’t last long as he made a bogey on #14 and Loupe responded with a birdie on the par-5 13^th to take back a one-shot lead.  With a Galloway birdie on #16, the two were once again tied for the lead with two holes to play.  Both Loupe and Galloway made bogey on the par-3 Hole #17, but a bogey by Galloway and a par by Loupe gave Loupe his first LGA Junior Amateur Championship title.  Loupe finished the Championship at six-under par 210 and Galloway finished at five-under 211.

 

Ryan Peters made two late birdies at Holes #16 and 17 and narrowly missed a birdie attempt at eighteen to force a playoff with Loupe.  Instead he joined Galloway at five-under par 211 for the Championship.  Also finishing at five-under for the Championship was Colin Richwine of Marrero who made the turn five shots back of Loupe, but an eagle at the par-5 eleventh and a birdie at the fifteenth vaulted him to a tie for second place for the event. 

 

Finishing alone in fifth was first round co-leader, Dustin Green of Monroe, who shot an even-par round of 72 which put him at four-under par 212 for the Championship.  The other first round co-leader, Neal Ajubita of Metairie turned in the low round of the day with a three-under par 69 which put him at three-under 213 for the Championship.

This year’s Championship was played at Beaver Creek Golf Club in Zachary.  The LGA is most appreciative to Beaver Creek for making their facility available on short notice for the Championship, as problems with the greens at Pelican Point GC in Gonzales necessitated a change in venue at the eleventh hour.  The Beaver Creek course continues to draw rave reviews from this field of the best Junior players in the state.  Friday saw the wind kick up a bit for final round play but the hot and humid conditions that prevailed during the first two rounds also continued on Friday.  The Beaver Creek course played to a par of 72 at approximately 6,800 yards on Friday.

 

All scores to follow:

 

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