BATON ROUGE — LSU senior Chris Wells became the fifth Tiger in seven years to be crowned champion at the Louisiana Golf Association Amateur Championship after wrapping up the title with a 2-over par 74 at the TPC Louisiana in Avondale on Sunday.
Wells took top honors at the 88th edition of the state’s premier amateur championship as he posted scores of 74, 69 and 73 in the first three rounds before finishing with a 2-over 290 in 78 holes.
With a number of players bunched at the top of the leader board heading into Sunday’s back nine, Wells separated himself from the rest of the pack over the final five holes with a pair of birdies at the par-three 14th and par-four 16th and three pars on the 15th, 17th and 18th holes.
The Mobile, Ala., native won the title by a single stroke over a trio of golfers who finished the afternoon in a tie for second place at 3-over 291, including defending champion Jason Kuperman of Shreveport, B.C. Thibeaux of Lafayette and Tommy Brennan of Covington.
Wells, who finished five strokes behind Kuperman in fourth place at this event a year ago, joins Alan Morgan (2001), John Humphries (2003), Garrett Prather (2004) and Aaron Smith (2005) as recent LSU golfers who have been crowned Louisiana Amateur champion in recent years.
Wells just finished his brilliant three-year career with the Tigers this season as he is the most decorated member of the LSU men’s golf team during that span. He wrapped up his career as a two-time All-SEC selection and a three-time First-Team All-Louisiana performer as awarded by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.
Sophomore Jarrod Barsamian also played well this weekend at the LGA Amateur Championship as he earned a top-10 finish by tying for sixth place at 5-over 293.