Buchan wins 2016 LGA Senior Am
Ken Buchan of Monroe fired a final round 3-under par 69 to win the 27th LGA Senior Amateur Championship by one shot over Grady Brame of Hammond .
Buchan started the day 5 shots back of Brame , and after a roller coaster round , he had a three shot lead when they stepped on the 14th tee . Buchan had just birdied the par 5 13th hole but then proceeded to double bogey the par 4 14th , while Brame made a birdie . Both competitors made a par at the par 3 15th hole , and then Buchan made a stellar birdie on the 16th hole to take a one stroke lead .
Brame and Buchan would go on to make par on the next two holes , giving Buchan his first LGA Championship victory . Buchan is originally from Scotland and played college golf at the University of Louisiana at Monroe . He recently turned 50 in August , making him eligible for the State Senior Amateur . Buchan was the only player to finish this year ’ s Championship under par after shooting rounds of 73-73-69 ( oneunder par 215 ). Brame finished runner up at even par 216 .
Buchan made a total of 10 birdies over 54 holes en route to win the LGA Senior Amateur . He took advantage of length off the tee and played the par 5s at 4-under par .
The final round was exciting and full of drama with one incident in particular standing out , reported Logan Ray of the Louisiana Golf Assocation . Brame was in an unfortunate situation and to no fault of his own , he incurred a costly penalty stroke on the par 5 11th hole . After hitting his third shot into the hazard to the right of the green , Brame took his drop two club lengths from where it last crossed the margin of the hazard , which was on the green . This area was on a severe slope , and the first two times Brame dropped the ball , it rolled back into the hazard . Per the Rules of Golf , Brame placed the ball where it struck the course on his second drop . It took him a few seconds to find a spot on the green where the ball would come to rest once it was placed .
Brame then marked and lifted his ball and went through his progressions to read the putt . Once Brame had his line , he replaced his ball and lifted his mark . As he brought the putter back , the ball began to move and rolled back into the hazard . Brame did not cause the ball to move , but he had to take a one stroke penalty . He would go on to make a double bogey on the hole and fall two shots back of Buchan who made a par . Brame battled back , but Buchan ’ s brilliance on the final three holes were enough to secure the victory .
Rounding out the top 5 were : 3 .) Stan Humphries of Monroe ( 222 ), 4 .) 2015 LGA Senior Amateur Champion Tommy Brennan of Covington ( 223 ), and 5 .) 2003 LGA Senior Amatuer Champion Eddie Lyons of Shreveport ( 224 ).
Originally scheduled for late August , the championship had to be re-scheduled due to flooding . Oakbourne Country Club Superintendent Jason Barras and his crew did a phenomenal job getting the golf course in championship condition in a short time frame following the flood .
Ray said the golf course drew rave reviews from this field of the top senior players in Louisiana . The Dick Wilson designed Oakbourne course played to a par of 72 at approximately 6,650 yards on Saturday , and the greens were rolling at 11.6 on the Stimp meter .
Next year ’ s Championship will be conducted at Southern Trace Country Club in Shreveport , May 18-20 , 2017 .
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