newsspin
team louisiana retains mackel cup
The Louisiana PGA Team squeaked by the Mississippi
PGA Team in this year’s Mackel Cup. Team Louisiana
won the Mackel Cup for the fourth year in a row.
The late Frank Mackel who was known as the
“godfather of golf ” in New Orleans inspired the event.
The tournament was co-hosted by the new Bayou Oaks
at City Park South Course and New Orleans Country
Club Jan. 7-8.
The Gulf States PGA Louisiana and Mississippi
Chapter Player of the Year Points Standings determined
players on each team. Teams participated in Four-ball
matches during the first day, followed by singles matches
on the final day of competition. One point was awarded
for winning each nine as well as the top overall score,
with a possible total of three points per day per match.
Day one, at Bayou Oaks at City Park South Course,
was fought in gusty winds and ended with a Team
Louisiana 11-10 lead. Day two, at New Orleans Country
Club, was canceled due to inclement weather.
Jake Narro served as the Captain of the Louisiana
Team, which consisted of Dustin Baker, Reg Adams,
Emlyn Aubrey, Obie Agbasi, Drew Goff, Allan Martel,
J.T. Crawford, Marshall Saxon, Blake Thomas, Bobby
Jacks, Gavin Vegas, Justin Mann and Bobby Flanagan.
Olly Thomson served as the Captain of the Mississippi
Team, which consisted of Blake Hatfield, David Lee,
Leigh Brannan, Anthony Price, Reed Hughes, Kevin
Kelly, Matt Brunetz, Joseph Hanko, Theo Reshew, Nick
Ellison, Rick Gehr, Nathan Kitson and Tim Basel.
The Gulf States Section PGA thanked Brian Long
and Alex Abbruzza and Bayou Oaks at City Park as well
as J.T. Crawford and New Orleans Country Club for
hosting this year’s event.
The Section thanked Jeff Morici of Under Armour,
Eddie Welch and Cameron Duff of Titleist for their
continued support of the event. In addition, the Section
thanked Mike Rodrigue and the ACME Oyster House
for hosting the players’ party.
The Section offered a special thank you to Ronnie and
Peggy Benandi, longtime associates of Frank Mackel, for
serving as the honorary starters.
williamson joins
GSPGA staff
24
The Gulf States Section announced the hiring of
Morgan Williamson. She will start immediately.
A native of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, she comes
from State Farm where she was in the sales department.
Prior to that, she served as the PJ Boatwright Intern
for the Tennessee Golf Association where she focused
on women’s competitions. She played college golf at
Mississippi State (2009-2011) and Belmont University
(2011-2013).
She looks forward to furthering her education by
becoming a PGA professional while employed with the
Gulf States Section. Her husband, Matt Williamson, is
the Head Golf Professional at TPC Louisiana.
In addition to tournament management, Morgan’s
duties will also include administration of Player Ability
Tests, Digital Golf Pass, Education, Awards and Hall of
Fame programs.
t
N
b
2
g
m
s
g
D
a
a