Mandeville garners boys Class 5A state golf crown

Mandeville’s Skippers boys’ golf team, a mark of consistency all season long, did its thing Wednesday winning the Louisiana High School Athletic Association Division I Class 5A State Golf title by two strokes over the Hahnville Tigers.

The Skippers fired a 298 on Tuesday and came back with a 302 on Wednesday to garner the crown with a 600 total edging out Hahnville at Oak Wing in Alexandria. As one MHS golfing parent, Lisa Kelley, said, “the boys brought home the bacon, and made us proud.”

Jesuit’s Myles Lewis won the individual medalist honor with rounds of 72 and 71 for a one-under 143 total.

Mandeville senior team captain Austin Gutgsell, an LSU signee, finished third in the individual competition. After the two rounds, Gutgsell was tied with Hahnville’s Andrew Noto at 145, one over par.

Noto secured second place dropping in a birdie putt on the first playoff hole to edge out Gutgsell, who had to settle for par. Gutgsell said he gave it his best.

“I shot even par in the final round, and I played well. It was very windy so the conditions were tough. You had to compensate for the wind. It wasn’t an overly great day, but I was pleased with my round. It’s a course that if you shoot bad shots, you will get punished for it,” Gutgsell said.

Gutgsell said he was pumped about winning the team state championship.

“This being my senior year, we’ve had a chance to win it every year since my freshman year. It would not have been a good taste in my mouth without a team state title. Believe me, there were no sad faces with the win. I was glad I was able to come through for the team. Everybody played well when it counted,” Gutgsell said.

Gutgsell said sophomore Evans Haile really came through for the Skippers.

Haile turned in a solid tournament finishing tied for sixth place with rounds of 74 each day to finish at 148 four over par.

“I was really pleased with my performance. I putted well both days. I didn’t hit as many greens as I wanted to, but I was getting up and down to save myself. I played pretty much exactly the same both days. The final round was tougher because it was a lot windier. I was able to make a couple more birdies on the second day,” Haile said.

“We were ecstatic to get the victory. We were talking about it all night before the final round, saying we had to win it,” Haile said.

Haile said as a sophomore, he just wants to continue to improve his game. Haile credited Gutgsell, the team captain, with doing a fantastic job for his teammates.

“He’s been our leader the whole time. He did an unbelievable job, and was a great team captain. He was basically like a coach. He was always there for everybody. If one of us was ever down, he would say don’t worry about it. He has a way of calming you down, and keeping you in check,” Haile said.

Mandeville trailed Hahnville by one shot entering Wednesday’s final round.

The other top Mandeville individual finishers out of the field of 102 were junior John Hemphill tied for 14th place shooting 75 and 78 for a 153. Junior teammate Blake Kelley took 18th place, one shot back at 154. Kelley had rounds of 76 and 78.

Mandeville athletic director John Priola said it was tremendous to see such a talented group of golfers win the state championship after the Skippers finished runner up to Catholic High last year.

“The team was committed throughout the season of achieving their goal of winning a state championship. They were consistent as a team, and they lived up to the billing prior to the tournament,” Priola said.

“Our golfers were under a lot of pressure. They were focused. They came out as the cream of the crop, competing against some extremely amazing golfers. For a weekend hacker like me, it’s like being around professional golfers watching the tremendous talent these high school athletes perform with,” Priola added.

Priola said the Mandeville team was real consistent throughout the season with each golfer posting scores in the 70s.

“It was a solid team with lots of depth.”

In other team competition, St. Thomas More (616) took third followed by Jesuit (621), while Catholic High (631) and Barbe (631) tied for fifth.

The Slidell Tigers (633) earned a seventh place finish. Nick Seigert, who came in tied for sixth individually at 148, led the Tigers.

Seigert carded an impressive three-under par 69 in Tuesday’s opening round. He held a one-shot lead over Myles, the eventual medalist. It was the only sub-70 round in the two-day tournament. However, Seigert struggled with the windy conditions on Wednesday finishing with a 79. Slidell’s John Chaplin tied for 11th individually shooting 73 and 78 for a 151.

Slidell coach Frank Simms said Seigert shot a phenomenal first round.

“The winds really picked up during the second round. I’d guess saying they were gusting at times to 25 or 30 miles an hour. If you misjudged the wind it was a factor,” Simms said.

Simms said his team had a fairly good finish. The Tigers shot 312 and 321 for their rounds.

“It was a very competitive field with some awesome golfers. I was very impressed by the performance of the players. There were only a few strokes that separated the teams in the middle of the pack,” Simms added.

FHS tied Airline for 10th place with a 658 total on rounds of 335 and 323. FHS’ Gavin Vegas (158) tied for 25th individually with rounds of 77 and 81.

FHS was in 14th place after the first round with a 335. FHS golf coach Andy Thiel said his team did a good job in the second round despite the windy conditions.

“Our golfers were able to take 12 strokes off the opening day round. We made up some ground finishing tied for 10th. It was our best team finish in a number of years,” Thiel said.

Other local finishers among 102 individual competitors:

Tie 27. Mark Drube, CHS, 159; 40. C.J. Triola, NHS, 163; Tie 41. Alex Black, NHS, 164; Tie 46. Matthew Moseley, FHS, 165; Tie 46. Travis Markey, SHS, 165; Tie 55. Michael King, FHS, 167; Tie 62. Chris Burson, SHS, 169; Tie 62. Andy Nieto, FHS, 169; Tie 75. Ryan Smith, NHS, 173; 83. Josh Kohler, MHS, 177; Tie 86. John Griffitt, FHS, 179; 94. Garrett Tranchina, SHS, 189.