Golfers Finish a Distant Fifth at State Tourney

Posted May 6, 2016 / Last updated May 11, 2016

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Sophomore Grayson Glorioso brought in the lowest score among the Jesuit team.

Sophomore Grayson Glorioso brought in the lowest score among the Jesuit team.

Jesuit’s golf team wrapped up its 2015-16 season by finishing a distant fifth among eight Division 1 teams that competed in this week’s LHSAA state championship tournament at Carencro’s Farm d’Allie.

Britton Khalaf is a freshman with a bright future in golf.

Britton Khalaf is a freshman with a bright future in golf.

The start of the two-day, 36-hole tournament was delayed because severe wet weather hit south Louisiana last Saturday (April 30) and then lingered, pummeling golf courses with heavy rain and turning greens into swamps. The event had been scheduled to start on Monday, May 2, and finish on Tuesday, May 3. Instead, the LHSAA decided to push back the tournament a couple of days. It was an easy decision because golf courses that stretched from Lake Charles to Slidell needed sunshine to dry out. As a result, prep golfers teed off under a cloudless sky on Wednesday, May 4, and finished on Thursday, May 5.

A total of 48 prep golfers competed, representing eight teams from two regions. These teams finished among the top four in the two regional tournaments that were held on Tuesday, April 26. The field also included eight of the lowest scoring golfers whose teams did not finish among the top four in the regional tourneys. Jesuit made the cut for the state tourney after it finished in fourth place at the regional, held at Carter Plantation Golf Course in Springfield. The top three teams at the Region II event were Catholic High (Baton Rouge), Zachary, and Fontainebleau.

Each of the eight teams fielded five golfers. The highest score among golfers on a team is discarded so that the two-day totals are a compilation of the individual scores of the remaining four golfers. In Jesuit’s case, Grant Glorioso’s scores were discarded.

Here is how the teams fared at the state championship tournament:

Team 1st Day 2nd Day Total
Byrd High (Shreveport) 296 286 582
West Monroe 310 289 599
St. Thomas More 307 297 604
Catholic High (BR) 310 303 613
Jesuit 313 319 632
Airline 322 315 637
Zachary 333 331 664
Fontainebleau 333 335 668

Here is how the five Blue Jay golfers fared on the 6,516 yard Farm d’Allie par 72 course:

Golfer 1st Day 2nd Day Total
Grayson Glorioso 77 75 152
Britton Khalaf 77 82 159
Carlo Carino 81 79 160
J.T. Holmes 78 83 161
Grant Glorioso 82 85 167

Grayson Glorioso, a right-handed sophomore, posted the lowest scores for the Jesuit team with rounds of 77 and 75 for a two-day total of 152. That’s 17 strokes more than the 135 carded by one of Byrd’s golfers, Carter Toms, who was the tournament’s individual winner. As a team, the Blue Jays were 50 strokes behind Byrd High, which won in resounding fashion. Six teams improved their second day score over the first day. Two teams did not, including Jesuit, which added six strokes to the first day score.

Coach Owen Seiler ’75 said he was disappointed by his team’s play at the state event.

“The younger players such as Grayson and Britton played better than my seniors,” he said. “Only two of our five golfers improved their scores on day two. Grayson shaved two strokes off his first day score of 77 and Carlo Carino went from 81 to 79.”

Coach Seiler, however, remains optimistic about the future of Jesuit golf.

“Based on the youth of this year’s team,” he said, “our next two years look very promising.”

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