Allen leaves mark on local golf scene
Published 8:20 am Monday, June 24, 2013
Chased by history all afternoon, Neithan Allen left his own historic mark on the local golf scene.
Allen became just the fourth golfer in history to win the both the Lake Charles and Sulphur city championships in the same year.
He was the first to do so since Matt Nicholas turned the trick in 2004.
Ironically, it was Nicholas who was chasing Allen Sunday in the final round of the Lake Charles tourney at Mallard Cove Golf Course.
“It was extra special because he was the one I was playing with,” said Allen.
Nicholas, a two-time winner of the Lake Charles title, never was able to make a run at Allen. He started the day five strokes back and never got any closer.
Allen finished the day with a 4-under par 68, same as Nicholas, but his three-day total was much better.
Allen ended the tournament 11-under 205, still those five shots in front of Nicholas who was 210.
“Neithan came in hot and stayed hot,” said Nicholas. “I thought I played pretty well, but not much you can do when a guy plays like that.
“He had a great week and deserved to win.”
For Nicholas, he said it was the fifth or sixth time he took home second.
“A kings bridesmaid I guess,” he said.
Allen shot a 67 in the opening round and never looked back, firing a 70 on Saturday to grab the five-shot lead one week after winning the Sulphur championship.
He now has his sights set on the Westlake City title later this summer.
“It is great to be a part of an elite group and I would love to win Westlake also,” Allen said. “This is just special because of the field and the amount of good golfers who play in this tournament.”
Allen made up for last year when he took a 1-shot lead into the final round at Mallard Cove but finished second to Robby Going.
“Finishing second last year was heartbreaking, said Allen. “That makes coming back and winning this year a little extra special.”
While he claimed to be nervous on the first tee, Allen didn’t show it. He left no doubt about the winner when he birdied three of the first four holes.
“Getting off to a fast start helped,” Allen said.
He added an eagle on the eighth hole but bogeyed the ninth, finishing the front nine at 3-under 33. The back nine was just a victory lap, as Nicholas and Jack Clyde (211) who finished third with an eagle on the final hole. Clyde shot a 69 on Sunday.
“This is just very exciting for me,” said Allen. “I got to play with a great group of guys and we had a lot of fun out there. To share a cart with Matt all day it was kind of like he passed the torch to me.”
Allen said his day started off great when his opening tee shot went right down the middle of the fairway.
“That was a dream start,” said Allen. “The drive right down the middle made me relax. Then the first birdie and I really settled down and enjoyed the day.”
The best round of the day went to last year’s champ Going. The two-time winner played in the first Flight after two tough rounds made him miss the cut.
However, he came back to shot a 5-under 67 and win his flight.
“It’s always nice to win,” said Going. “I just wish I had one of those first two rounds back.”
Shane Fontenot, the recent Barbe High grad and future McNeese State golfer, faltered in the final group. He came in just seven strokes back but shot a 3-over 75 to finish with a 219.
Final Results
Championship Flight
Neithan Allen 67-70-68—205
Matt Nicholas 72-70-68—210
Jack Clyde 71-71-69—211
Hank Shaheen 72-73-73—218
Shane Fontenot 75-68-75—218
Jason Horn 71-73-74—218
John Morrissey 73-72-74—219
Philip Hoffpauir 73-74-72—219
D.J. Schexnider 70-77-72—219
Logan Hayes 75-73-71—219
Zak Barton 72-72-76—220
Gabe Coleman 75-74-72—221
Austin Hinton 79-70-73—222
Byron Martin 75-74-75—224
Sutton Farmer 74-75-79—228
J.D. Welsh 73-76—WD
First Flight
Robby Going 77-75-67—219
Chad Johnson 74-77-72—223
Blake Dereese 74-79-70—223
Kevin McArthur 78-76-69—223
Chris Vallette 75-75-75—225
Chris Gentry 80-71-76-227
Bill Stevens 78-78-72—228
Connor Castille 73-83-74—230
Austin Campbell 75-82-74—231
Blake Derouen 76-82-74—232
Kris Hollan 79-80-75—234
Wayne Sweeney 79-81-75—235
Kyle Collins 77-79-80—236
Thad Gaspard 79-75-83—237
Channing Kile 83-74-80—237
Doug Quienalty 79—WD
Second Flight
Scott Lominac 70-75—145
Binky Barrentine 73-75—148
Shane Heinen 74-74—148
Bill Perkins 74-76—150
Cliff Myers 78-76—154
Bryant Patin 78-77—155
Sean Garrido 80-77—157
Todd Broussard 82-76—158
Gage Primeaux 81-78—159
Scott Hall 80-80—160
Patrick Victor 81-79—160
Landon Deville 83-79—162
Billy Spees 80-84—164
Quinn Burkhalter 80-84—164
Kevin Primeaux 82-82—164
Kevin Corcoran wd
Third Flight
Grant Larocca 76-76—152
David Martin 77-80—157
Jimmy Guidry 78-79—157
Bryan McCullough 80-78—158
Jamie East 78-84—162
Rusty Montiville 83-79—162
Jacob Hathaway 84-78—162
Terrance Hoffpauir 80-83—163
David Duzan 79-85—164
Josh Sargent 85-79—164
Brian Benoit 84-81—165
John Garrett 80-86—166
David Huber 82-84—166
Allen Mitchell 83-85—168
Carlos McGee 88-86—174
Mike Abshire WD
Fourth Flight
Chad Smith 76-78—154
Conner Thompson 78-78—156
Chance Brown 83-75—158
Wil Fruge 75-83—158
Tim Town 81-79—160
Dave Flanagan 81-79—160
Dwight Gerst 76-85—161
Chris Buller 82-79—161
Mason James 85-77—162
Craig Carnahan 77-86—163
Burk Walker 80-83—163
Mike Harrell 82-81—163
Bryan Harris 82-82—164
Brandon Guillory 82-85—167
Val East 86-85—171
Collin Castille WD
Fifth Flight
Scott Theriot 75-81—156
Kevin Broussard 81-75—156
Eric Eskew 81-77—158
Ricky Norwood 76-86—162
Mike Beglis 82-81—163
Charlie Buller 85-78—163
Vic Montgomery 81-83—164
Joe Underwood 83-81—164
Pap Williams 84-83—167
Kevin Lambright 84-83—167
Bill Weise 83-85—168
Danny McGee 86-83—169
Walt Dulany 82-89—171
Chris Fontenot 87-85—172
Pat Comeaux 87-87—174
Tyler Williams 90-84—174
Sixth Flight
Gerald Carrier 83-79—162
Sam Baynes 84-82—166
Richard Bertrand 87-82—169
Mike Richardson 82-89—171
Andrew Hebert 85-88—173
Sandy Woods 86-88—174
Jeff Harper 87-87—174
Dan Breaux 86-89—175
Chad Joe 82-97—179
Harry Henry 86-93—179
Randell Williams 88-94—182
Mike Rousseau 88-95—183
Wilford Carter 94-93—187
Lindell Lambright 93-95—188
Travis Furs 97-91—188
Jimmy Cady 95-95—190
Seventh Flight
Glen Priola 77-84—161
Brian Sacksteder 82-85—167
Delvin Rideau 83-86—169
Jonathon Courville 86-85—171
Scott Landreneau 87-86—173
Robbert Hubbard 85-90—175
Kirk Martin 87-90—177
Paul Garafolo 89-89—178
Dooley Prince 89-91—180
Chris Meaux 96-86—182
Doyle Carter 91-92—183
Mike Carter 88-97—185
Carl Cole 95-93—188
Carl Bertrand 103-86—189
Mark Wilburn WD
Noah Hinton 91-WD
Eighth Flight
Robert Carrier 82-89—171
Mark Taveney 84-88—172
Vince Castille 84-90—174
Julius Courville 85-89—174
Kenny Brown 87-88—175
Robert Crooks 86-90—176
Tony Colletta 88-90—178
Sam Morris 83-96—179
Jerry Bonvillian 88-91—179
Brent Soileau 85-96—181
Mark Fontenot 88-93—181
Dale Babineaux 92-91—183
Marcus Boutte 92-94—186
Peter Augustine 95-93—188
Time Castille 97-92—189
Huey Hebert—100-94—194
Ninth Flight
Kenny Hedrick 86-87—173
Todd Stelly 87-88—175
Lance Hughes 80-96—176
Jim Pilgreen 93-90—183
Ronnie Gibbs 92-93—185
Robert Barfield 90-98—188
Scott Guillory 88-102—190
Chester Cormier 91-02—193
Joey Adaway 101-92—193
Gary Miller 88-109—197
Tony Pitre 99-99—198
Brian Reams 90-109—199
Gary Woods 101-99—200
John Smith 106-104—210
Lelan Laborde 110-102—212
John Daniels WD
Neithan Allen became just the fourth golfer in history to win both the Lake Charles and Sulphur city championships in the same year. (Rick Hickman / American Press)