“ It ’ s run like a professional tournament .”
the bluffs hosts AJGA by Connor Raborn
“ It ’ s run like a professional tournament .”
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Kiser wins the Boys Division 5-over-par 221 Levi takes the Girls Division 2-over-par 218
As June came to a close , St . Francisville , Louisiana once again saw a truly collaborative junior golfing event , the St . Francisville Area Foundation Junior at the Bluffs tournament .
The American Junior Golf Association paired with the sponsoring St . Francisville Area Foundation to hold the AJGA event for the fourth time at The Bluffs on Thompson Creek .
Besides the tremendous amount of young golfing skill the tournament attracts , it brings together the talents of the involved organizations ’ staffs and help from community volunteers .
“ Clearly the AJGA is an organization that is easy to work with ,” said Rob Field , tournament chair . “ I can ’ t say enough good things about them .” SFAF and AJGA are both non-profits , and the proceeds of the event go to the two organization ’ s charitable causes , including the AJGA ’ s Achieving Competitive Excellence ( ACE ) Grant program .
“ It ’ s a great partnership ,” said Kyle Rickert , AJGA tournament coordinator . “ We basically have a whole committee of people .”
According to Rickert , while in most tournaments many of the people involved hold multiple positions , this tournament has enough people to avoid that . “ The whole community embraces the event .”
According to Lauren Field , tournament chair and executive director of SFAF , the community takes pride in participating and has a sense of accomplishment from volunteering , and there are more than 50 volunteers in the St . Francisville community . Volunteers also include returnees and AJGA alumni .
“ It ’ s run like a professional tournament ,” said Alicia Perilloux of Zachary , Louisiana who volunteered for the tournament for the third time this year , while her son Stewart Perilloux played in it . Another son of hers also volunteered , and her husband was a medic for the event .
The collaborative efforts of these various parties resulted in setting the stage for the week ’ s competition , divided into boys and girls divisions .
A tie between Cade Kiser and Pone Pyae Han at the end of the third round led to a play off between the two , in which Kiser took the lead and the title . Kiser of Katy , Texas , who is no stranger to the AJGA , having played in tournaments since his freshman year of high school , said that he decided to focus on beating the course rather than his fellow players and praised Han ’ s abilities .
“ I love playing this course because the views you get ,” said Kiser of what makes the Bluffs a unique course . He added that he appreciates that the location is rural and away from distractions such as traffic noise . Kiser ’ s final scores were 70-75-76 for a total of 221 .
Hannah Levi of D ’ Iberville , Mississippi , the girls division champion , spoke about the challenges of the Bluffs . “ The course was just very demanding ,” said Levi , whose score was 75-73-70 for a total of 218 . She said that hitting great shots was often necessary to avoid hurting one ’ s score .
“ I didn ’ t know at first that I ’ d won ,” said Levi about when she went to learn the final scores . “ It was just kind of like , oh my goodness , this really just happened .” According to Levi , the tournament is also a way to meet new friends as well as hang out with familiar friends .
Rob Field discussed the characterbuilding aspects of the game , saying that he gets positive feedback about the kids ’ manners from local businesses when they