Sonnier finishes in top 20 at PGA event

Published 4:50 pm Monday, November 20, 2017

A couple of rallies enabled Greg Sonnier to come up with a top-20 finish in last week’s PGA Assistant Professional National Championship at Port St. Lucie, Florida.

The Lake Charles Country Club assistant pro shot a 2-under-par 70 the second round to make the cut, and then the 66 he shot in the third round, which was the second-lowest 18-hole score of the event, landed him a spot in the top 20.

His final score was 77-70-66-74—287 that gave him a tie for 17th place.

“I started off with a lot of unforced errors,” Sonnier said. “When I shot that 77, I made a triple and a double on par-5s from the center of the fairway. I chalk it up to not playing much competitive golf.”

The 66 he came back with on the third day had him posting nines of 33, and the score could have been lower as he also had a couple of bogeys. That got him into a tie for 12th place after 54 holes, and then he shot 2-over 74 the final day.

“I think that I did well after the start that I had,” Sonnier said, noting that his iron play was consistent in the tournament, while he also started pitching the ball good and driving it better.

“It wasn’t anything great, but after that first day it (his play) was steady,” he said.

Tee LaBuff capped off the area’s women’s club championships recently by winning the title at Mallard Cove.

LaBuff won her third club championship at Mallard, getting the call on the fourth playoff hole with Theresa Williams.

Both players had shot 169 for the 36-hole event, LaBuff going 86-83 and Williams 84-85.

A par by LaBuff on the fourth playoff hole (No. 3) gave her the crown.

Diane Schexnider took the women’s senior crown with an 88-87—175 score. 

Eric Sanders, Bob McCorquodale and Steve Welch came up with personal milestone efforts last week.

Sanders made a hole-in-one at the Lake Charles Country Club while McCorquodale and Welch posted career-best scores at Mallard Cove.

Sanders aced the sixth hole at the Country Club, knocking in a 4-hybrid from 170 yards out.

The 75-year-old McCorquodale made an eagle on his final hole (No. 18) at Mallard to shot a 1-over-par 73.

Welch posted his best-nine hole score, a 2-over-par 38 on the back nine at Mallard. He had an 81 for his full 18 holes of play.

Upcoming

Friday — Black Friday super dog fight, Mallard Cove.