SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — The Shreveport-Bossier City area doesn’t boast an expansive junior golf program, and the public practice facilities are few and far between. However, it has produced Hal Sutton, David Toms and Meredith Duncan — role models who provide invaluable motivation for the next crop of rising stars.
Consequently, the quality of the local top junior players is out of this world.
“We’ve had some success here,” said Eric Ricard, who will be a senior at Loyola College Prep this fall. “People want to fill those footsteps.”
Toms, an Airline High School product, and Sutton (Northwood) have combined for 27 PGA Tour victories, and two major championships while Duncan, a former Byrd star, has enjoyed a lengthy career on the LPGA Tour.
Still, Philip Barbaree Jr., says the current local junior golf scene “is probably the best it’s ever been.”
Barbaree and Ricard are two-thirds of a threesome that heads an impressive group of local young guns loaded with talent and unafraid of high expectations. They will tee it up at Southern Trace Country Club from Tuesday through Thursday as the AJGA, the largest junior golf tour, hosts the inaugural David Toms Foundation Junior.
Fresh off a top-10 finish at the U.S. Junior Amateur, Ricard, an LSU commitment, is ranked in the top 50 internationally in the Class of 2013 Polo Golf Rankings. Barbaree, set for eighth grade at St. Mark’s, is ranked No. 6 in the Class of 2017 while Sam Burns, a sophomore-to-be at Calvary, is the Class of 2015’s No. 1 golfer and ranked 21st overall.
“They are so far advanced from where I was at their age,” Toms said Monday after participation in the Junior-Am.
Burns, who captured the Louisiana Junior Amateur Championship last week and turned 16 on Monday, was a late scratch from the David Toms Foundation Junior after qualifying for the AJGA’s prestigious Wyndham Cup beginning today at Bay Hill in Orlando.
“It’s an honor (for the tour to come to Shreveport),” said Burns, who like Ricard, is a reigning Louisiana High School individual champion. “Kids are going to come from out of town and be very impressed.”
Although he’s a couple of years behind his buddies in terms of tournament golf, David Toms’ son, Carter, has taken to the game after years of playing baseball. Carter’s passion for golf has not only helped his game, it’s paid off for his friends, too.
Carter and David Toms are often joined on the golf course by Shreveport’s up-and-comers.
“He’s always supportive,” Ricard said of David Toms.
“I definitely look up to David Toms,” Barbaree said. “Playing a lot with him now, I like to see where my game is compared to his.”
Said Burns: “David has obviously helped a lot. He has so much experience. He’ll watch us and he can figure out right then if we need to correct something.”
Carter Toms, who recently played his 10th career golf tournament, is in the field this week at Southern Trace. Before long, his friends expect he’ll provide some stiff competition.
“He’s definitely come along in the past year,” Barbaree said. “He’s going to be in the mix down the road. He’ll be pretty good — especially with David’s expertise.”
The road to success has not and will not be possible without the support of family, says Burns.
“Family is everything,” he said. “If you don’t have somebody that’s going to support you, it makes it a lot tougher. They’re putting up all the money for us to go around and travel.”
David Toms is not only excited about the future of the local golfers, but the possibilities presented to his alma mater in Baton Rouge. He hopes Ricard’s commitment to the Tigers is the first of several from the pool of local talent.
“They all seem to love the game,” Toms said. “I’ve watched them grow up. They’re out there grinding every day. They are not playing any other sports and it shows. I look for them to do great things. I hope they all go to LSU though. That would be great.”
Barbaree says he “definitely” wants to go to LSU while Burns will spend the next few years deciding between LSU and Oklahoma State.
“(LSU golf coach) Chuck (Winstead) said that in a couple years he has a chance to have all Louisiana kids and still dominate,” Barbaree said. “That would be cool.”
No matter their college destinations, David Toms says the PGA Tour might just get another run of Shreveporters.
“The technical parts — grip, stance and all the fundamentals are better — with video and TrackMan, all the stuff that is available out there now,” he said. “They are advanced at an early age. I hope they continue to progress, not wear themselves out and get tired of the game. I hope they keep having the passion — the sky is the limit if they do that.”
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Information from: The Times, http://www.shreveporttimes.com
