Brown inaugural recipient of Heinen scholarship

Published 5:06 pm Sunday, March 4, 2018

Eric Brown, who won a state prep golf title during his playing career at Hamilton Christian Academy, was named the 2017-18 recipient of the Southwest Louisiana Junior Golf Association’s Mike Heinen scholarship.

He was recently presented the $1,000 award by SWLJGA president and Mallard Cove head golf pro Derek Smith.

This is the first year for the award which is named in honor of Heinen, who spent nearly three decades playing professional golf and won the Houston Open in 1994. 

The scholarship will be presented annually to a high school graduate who played high school golf and attends either McNeese State or Sowela Technical Community College.

“Our board decided to make this scholarship available to only kids who will attend McNeese or Sowela,” Smith said. “This was decided that since all of our funds are raised locally, we want the money to stay local. And, we were glad that Mike Heinen gave us his blessing to use his name. We felt this would give the scholarship credibility and it might help bring awareness to what we are doing and who we are.”

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Brown was one of the state’s top junior golfers during his four years at Hamilton. Last spring he won the Division IV district, regional and state championships while also taking titles at the Montgomery (Texas) and Iowa high school tournaments.

He went on to place third at the Gulf States Junior PGA championship and sixth in the Louisiana junior amateur.

As a junior he finished second in the state prep tournament and earned eighth place in his sophomore year. He also won district titles both as a junior and sophomore and claimed a regional title as a freshman.

Three times he was named to both the Louisiana junior cup team and to the Louisiana/Mississippi junior River Cup team.

A freshman at McNeese State, Brown produced a 3.824 (out of 4.000) composite grade-point average.

He is not playing golf collegiately but said he has an extensive amateur schedule set up for the summer that will include state amateurs and several local city tournaments. 

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Now that it appears spring is here, everyone is getting back on the course and new clubs are out, it might be appropriate to reprint what Frasch Park pro George McInnis wrote in his monthly newsletter to his members. 

“Do your golf clubs fit you? Are they the right style (game improvement or players model)? Are they the correct length, lie angle, and/or shaft flex? Does it make a difference,” he wrote.

“YES, it does make a difference!

“Why would you practice to get better with clubs that might not fit? My advice is to schedule a club fitting. Most golf courses and golf specialty stores offer that at little or no cost. 

“Once your clubs are fitted, the only bad part is, you can’t blame the club when you hit a bad shot!”

Upcoming

March 24 — Chris DiMarco-McNeese fundraiser, Lake Charles Country Club.

March 26-27 — McNeese collegiate Lake Charles Invitational, Golf Club of Golden Nugget.

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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