Eli Walker of Quitman High and Tayt Culpepper birdied the final hole at Frenchman’s Bend in Monroe to post their best nine-hole rounds of the year and tie for second and fourth place respectively in the Front 9 high school golf tournament.
On the heels of shooting 38-41 (79) to win the President’s Day Junior Classic held at Trails End Golf Course in Arcadia on February 20th, Walker fired an even par round of 36 to finish just one back of Grey Kengrea of West Monroe High School. With a one-over-par round of 37, two better than his previous nine-hole best, Culpepper ended in a four-way tie for fourth, his second straight fourth-place finish.
The pair was two of five from Jackson Parish to finish in the top 20 of the 58 contestants vying for medalist honors. Noah Leach of Quitman was one of seven to shoot a four over par 40 for the sixth-best round of the day and a tie for 13th place. Just one stroke behind at 41 was Quitman’s Pete Simonelli and Tyler Pardue of Weston who ended in a seven-way tie for 20th place
Additional local competitors were Cam Deal of QHS (37th place), and the WHS contention of Kennard Jackson (47th), Cayden Smith (54th), and Austin Durbin (55th). Nicholas Kliebert from Quitman finished in 12th place in the Junior Varsity Division.
