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ULM, LA Tech Golfers Tee It Up in “I-20 Showdown”

ULM, LA Tech Golfers Tee It Up in “I-20 Showdown”

Men's Golf Feb 12
By Paul Letlow, ULMWarhawks.com Online Columnist
 
Monroe, La. – The name of the event alone is enough to grab your attention. 

The ULM men's golf team will take part in the "I-20 Showdown" on Saturday, Feb. 16 against Louisiana Tech with the neighboring universities playing a combined 36 holes at Squire Creek Country Club in Choudrant and Bayou DeSiard Country Club in Monroe. 

"We're trying to pick a fight here a little bit and trying to build a rivalry," ULM Director of Golf Tim Baldwin said with a laugh. "I hope we put a whipping on them this week."

The match tees off at 7:45 a.m. at Squire Creek for the first 18 holes and will caravan to Bayou DeSiard for the final 18, where Baldwin is hoping to draw a big partisan crowd. Baldwin said tee time in Monroe is 12:45 p.m. 

"I'm hoping we've got 100-plus people out there that afternoon in support of the Warhawks," Baldwin said. "We really want to encourage people from ULM and Bayou DeSiard to come out and watch this deal."

Baldwin said the event to kick off ULM's spring schedule counts as one of the 24 dates of competition the NCAA allows. 

"We both had a day or two left over in our schedules, so we decided to do this," Baldwin said. "It is counting. The scores count for the NCAA head to head and stroke average, both individual and team. It's an opportunity to get off to a quick start."

Baldwin said players qualified on Tuesday and Thursday in the week leading up to the "I-20 Showdown." The top five players will represent the team and the low four scores per round will count toward the team total. 

"Guillaume Fanonnel has already pre-qualified," Baldwin said. "Thibault Santigny is playing pretty good and Joao Girao is playing well. Otto Van Buynder and Keegan McLachlan are all in the mix. We've got eight guys, so it's hard to say who will be in the top five at this point. All eight guys will play."

Baldwin hopes to make the "I-20 Showdown" an even bigger community event in the future that could include players from both clubs and potentially expand to two days. 

"There are a lot of good players at both clubs and a lot of alums at both clubs," Baldwin said. "We'd get the top players out of Squire Creek and Bayou DeSiard and have sort of a Ryder Club match between those two clubs at the same time we're having our deal." 

While there may not be a traveling trophy yet for the inaugural "I-20 Showdown," bragging rights are on the line.

"I think in the future it's going to turn into a pretty big deal," Baldwin said. "It's kind of a trial run this year." 

After their tune-up against LaTech, the Warhawks continue the 2019 spring schedule at the Tiger Invitational, hosted by Auburn, Feb. 24-26 at Grand National in Opelika, Alabama.  
 
 
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