Jeremy Gautreaux was due Sunday afternoon at Beaver Creek golf course.
A local amateur golfer who has finished second to Greg Berthelot in a handful of BREC tournaments, Gautreaux put together a bogey-free round of 7-under 65 to pass up Berthelot and win his first Baton Rouge Open.
Gautreaux began the day tied for third place at 3-under, but his 65 was the best round of the two-day tournament. It was enough to propel him to a winning total of 10-under 134, two shots ahead of Berthelot.
“It feels great,” said Gautreaux, who tied for second behind Berthelot at last year’s tournament. “You have to keep putting yourself (in contention) and see what happens.”
Berthelot led for much of the day but bogeyed two of his final three holes to finish alone in second at 8-under. He was one of a handful of golfers who shot 67 on Sunday.
David Marsh, a sophomore on Southeastern’s golf team, was the first-round leader after a 67 on Saturday. A string of three birdies in four holes on the back side got him to 7-under, but that was as low as he would go. His two-day total of 137 was good for third place.
Also shooting 67 on Sunday was 2024 Baton Rouge Open winner Carter Schmitt, who tied with Drew Silman for fourth at 6-under. Silman, a senior on Covenant Christian’s golf team, worked his way to 7-under on the back side, but eventually shot 70 after bogeys at 12 and 18.
A total of 13 golfers finished the tournament under par, including Phil Schmitt, father of Carter, at 1-under.
Playing in the second-to-last group of the day, one hole ahead of Berthelot’s group, Gautreaux chipped in for eagle at the par-5 11th to move to 8-under. Berthelot then matched the score with a chip-in eagle that also moved him to 8-under.
Berthelot kept going and added birdies at 12 and 13 to get to 10-under. He ran into trouble at 15, where he bogeyed the par-3 after a chunky tee shot left him short of the green. A birdie putt inside of 10 feet on 16 was no help when it slid by the hole, and Berthelot closed his round with a bogey on 18 after missing the green long.
“I had some missed opportunities, but I also stole a couple of shots with some chips,” Berthelot said. “Yesterday, I didn’t make anything (putting), but today I putted well. Some of them went in, and some of them didn’t.”
Gautreaux’s round got going with front-side birdies at 2, 6 and 7. After the eagle at 11, he made four pars before making birdies at 16 and 18. The closing flurry was needed, even though Gautreaux and Berthelot exchanged text messages to update scores during the round.
“There were a few text exchanges,” Gautreaux said. “I’ve learned my lesson about trying to coast in with pars. It doesn’t work with him. I knew I had to make a couple of birdies down the stretch.”
Final Results from the Baton Rouge Open at Beaver Creek Golf Course
Jeremy Gautreaux 69 65 – 134
Greg Berthelot 69 67 – 136
David Marsh 67 70 – 137
Carter Schmitt 71 67 – 138
Drew Silman 68 70 – 138
Austin Watts 72 67 – 139
Mark Bienvenu 70 70 – 140
Ryan Fabre 74 67 – 141
Chandler Davidson 75 67 – 142
Brayden Seguin 71 71 – 142
Triston Elston 71 71 – 142
Phil Schmitt 73 70 – 143
Mason Comeaux 72 71 – 143
Jonathan Maese 74 70 – 144
