August 25, 2012 — Alexandria, LA – Doug Farr of Monroe shot a stellar 69 on Saturday to win the 2012 Louisiana Golf Association Senior Amateur Championship.  Farr, an accomplished and decorated LGA Champion who won the Amateur Championship in 1985 at Shenandoah Country Club and this Championship at Lake Charles Country Club in 2009, takes home another piece of crystal to add to his Championship collection.  He becomes the sixth player to win the Senior Amateur Championship multiple times.  Down the stretch, Farr showcased his clutch shot-making skills and wherewithal to close golf tournaments by fending off strong competition from the best Senior players in Louisiana.

Farr started the final round at one-under par 143, 3 shots back of the 36 hole leader Robert Shelton of Lafayette who started the day at four-under par 140.  Also in the final pairing of the day along with Farr and Shelton was Mark Bradshaw of Carencro who was one shot off the lead at three-under par 141 when they teed off at 10:21 a.m. Saturday morning.

Farr played steady and consistent golf to begin the final round, making par on the first 5 holes.  He jumpstarted his round with back-to-back birdies on the par 4 6^th hole and the par 4 7^th.  At that time, approximately 12:00 p.m., the Tournament Committee sounded the horns and suspended play due to poor weather conditions.  Shelton, Farr, and Bradshaw were all tied at three-under par for the Championship at the time of the suspension.  The delay would last two hours, and play would resume uninterrupted for the remainder of the final round.  When the golfers returned to the course, Farr wasted no time in continuing his charge to the top of leaderboard.  His birdied his first hole back from suspension of play, the par 3 8^th, while Bradshaw made par and Shelton made bogey.  All three players in the final group would par the par 5 9^th.  Farr’s front nine 33 was good enough to give him a one shot lead at the turn, a lead he would not relinquish.

Farr started the back nine the same way he started the front nine by playing consistent golf, limiting his mistakes, and slowly building his lead with string of pars.  He parred holes 10-13 and birdied the par 5 14^th.  A par on the par 4 15^th was followed by a bogey at the par 5 16^th, the only blemish on Farr’s otherwise excellent round.  Farr capped of his round with two pars at the par 3 17^th and the par 4 18^th.  He shot even par 36 on the back nine.  His three-under par 69 final round brought him to four-under par 212 for the Championship, good enough to win by two strokes over Jay Lavespere of Alexandria who finished at two-under par 214 after firing a final round 70.

Shelton finished tied for third with defending Champion Rod Baronet of Lecompte at one-under par 215.  Fifth place went to Bradshaw, who finished at even par 216.

Scores of par or better on Saturday were turned in by:  Farr (69), Mitch Sexton of Mandeville (69), Lavespere (70), Eddie Lyons of Shreveport (70), Ben Hargis of Alexandria (71), Baronet (72), Frank Maxwell of Delhi (72), Mason Rudolph of Covington (72), Bart Dornier of Metairie (72), and Gary Tucker of Youngsville (72).

This year’s Championship was conducted at OakWing Golf Club in Alexandria.  The course, which will also host the 2013 LGA Club Team Championship and 2013 USGA Mid-Amateur Qualifier, continued to draw rave reviews from this field of the top Senior (Age 50 & Over) players in Louisiana.  OakWing’s par-72 track played at 6,725 yards for the final round of this Championship, which was played under softer conditions following the rain that came through the Alexandria area over the weekend.  The greens were in phenomenal condition for this Championship, rolling true and measuring just over 11 on the stimpmeter.  The field was cut to the low 60 and ties after 36 holes with 60 players making the cut at 164.

The 2013 LGA Senior Amateur will be conducted at Bayou DeSiard Country Club in Monroe, August 15-17, 2013.

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