DiMarco to speak at fundraiser

Published 9:04 pm Sunday, December 17, 2017

Chris DiMarco, a three-time PGA winner, is coming to Lake Charles to serve as the special guest at a McNeese State fundraiser on March 24, partly because of his friendship with Mike Heinen.

Cowboys coach Austin Burk said it came about this way.

“We were playing over there (in Florida) in a tournament in the fall and his son, who is a senior, was playing for South Florida (also in the tournament),” Burk said. “I ran into him, we talked a little and hit him up with the idea (of his being the featured speaker at the fundraiser).

“He said he was great friends with Mike and that he would love to do it.”

What sealed the deal was a call from Heinen to DiMarco.

“Billy (Gabbert, the Cowboys assistant coach) called me asking me to call Chris. I did and he said that he was ready to do it,” Heinen said.

“He’s a good friend, but I don’t see him much anymore.”

The two played on the PGA Tour for many years as well as on the Canadian Tour and the Web.com Tour.

Heinen said the two roomed together some on tour and that when their wives were with them they would go to dinner, movies and bowling together.

“We would practice together, but I think that maybe only a few times we got paired together in a tournament,” Heinen said.

Heinen won on the PGA Tour first, taking the Houston Open crown in 1994. DiMarco’s titles came in the Pennsylvania Classic in 2000, the Buick Challenge in 2001 and the Phoenix Open in 2002.

He may be best noted for his sudden-death playoff loss to Tiger Woods in the 2005 Masters.

“He’s a great speaker and will do an outstanding job,” Heinen added about his friend.

Of late, DiMarco has served as a member of the “Morning Drive” show on the Golf Channel.

In August he will turn 50 and is expected to take a shot at the PGA Senior Tour, at which Heinen may also be taking a run.

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The fundraiser will take place at the Lake Charles Country Club and tee off a week of golf featuring the Cowboys.

They will host their own Lake Charles Invitational at the Golf Club of Golden Nugget with 15 teams entered (pro-am Sunday, 36 holes Monday and 18 holes Tuesday). Among those teams are Marquette, Louisiana-Lafayette, Lamar and Texas State.

Tickets for the fundraiser are on sale and can be obtained from Burk at 254-265-4267 or by email at aburk@mcneese.edu.

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The Louisiana Golf Association announced its championship 2018 schedule and none of the events are scheduled for the Lake Charles area.

The closest will be events in the Lafayette area, the men’s amateur at Oakbourne (June 7-10) and the mid-amateur at Le Triomphe (Aug. 25-26).

The Lake Charles Country Club team — winners of the past two state club team championships — will be traveling to Mandeville to defend its title at the Beau Chene Country Club (April 14-15). 

The LGA also has a new director of championship events, Samuel Crader, a graduate Missouri who served an internship with the Texas Golf Association the past year.

Logan Ray, who had served in the position, is now the LGA’s executive director.

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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