Entry forms for this year’s Lake Charles city championship are available beginning today, said Derek Smith, Mallard Cove head pro and tournament director.

It will be played June 23-25 at Mallard.

There has been problems on some of the greens over the past couple of months with the loss of grass and there has been the question of if the date for the event would stay the same.

Smith said the date would stay the same after he had polled more than 50 golfers and 80 percent said they would play no matter what because it is the city championship. He noted that defending champion Matt Nicholas was committed.

Smith said the course began the sprigging of some of the greens with Bermuda plugs last week to help growth in the slow developing areas.

He said temporary greens will be in place on Nos. 1, 2, 9, 13, 15 and 16 until the city championship. He added that he has asked greens superintendent Robert Fray to make the temps as playable as possible.

This year’s tournament will also feature, for the first time, two senior flights. A senior city champion will be crowned.

Entry forms are available at the Mallard Cove clubhouse and at Lake Charles Toyota.

Outstanding junior players from throughout the United States, as well as some from Canada, Mexico and overseas, will be at Gray Plantation Friday through Sunday for an American Junior Golf Association tournament.

A qualifier for the event — for players 12-19 years old — will be played on Friday and the 36-hole tournament will tee off Saturday and Sunday.

Locals in the tournament include Eric Brown, Nick Guillory, Logan Kuehn, Brooke Duzan, Brooke Tyree and Daffney Tilton, while area players who must earn a berth through the Friday qualifier are Jace Benoit, Austin Stewart, Brayden Wright, Robert Rigmaiden, McKenzie LeDuff and Carly Whittington.

The AJGA last played a tournament at Gray in 2013, when Texan Colin Kober, now a member of the Baylor golf team, shot an 11-under-par 61.

Seventy-eight juniors will make up the field.

Tomorrow Duzan, LeDuff, Tilton and Tyree will take part in the Louisiana Champions Invitational at Tamahka Hills in Marksville.

This tournament features the state’s top high school golfers from the past season.

The Roxie Stewart Memorial tournament, which benefits the McNeese State women’s program, will be played June 9 at the Lake Charles Country Club. It’s a four-person scramble with a 1 p.m. shotgun start.

There will be men and women’s divisions. The entry fee is $500 per team. Sponsorships are also available. Information can be obtained from tournament director Dan Corcoran (515-5059) or Cowgirls coach Mike Fluty (300-4648).

Rueben Broussard, Don Bertrand and B.J. Andrews put up solid numbers at The National in Westlake last week. Both Broussard and Bertrand shot lower than their ages and Andrews made a hole-in-one.

The 73-year-old Broussard shot 1-under 71 while Bertrand, 78, posted a 76.

Andrews, from Baton Rouge, aced the 128-yard 12th hole with an 8-iron. It was his first hole-in-one.

Also posting holes-in-one last week were Brayden Wright at Frasch Park in Sulphur and Tommy Cox at Mallard Cove. Wright aced the 174-yard 13th hole with an 8-iron while Cox collected his hole-in-one on the 164-yard fourth hole at Mallard with a 5-iron.

Locals taking part in last week’s U.S. Open qualifier at Southern Trace in Shreveport came up a little short.

Sutton Farmer was the top-scoring local with an even-par 72 while Greg Sonnier shot 74, Tyler Kuhn 74, Eric Brown 77 and Jevon Perry 78.

The lone spot available was won with a 5-under-par 67.

Upcoming

Saturday — Johnnie Thibodeaux Jr. Memorial, Mallard Cove.

June 3-4 — Plantation four ball, Gray Plantation.

Louis Bonnette has written about local golf for the American Press since 1971. His column appears each Sunday. Contact him at 274-5689 or lbonnette@mcneese.edu