Published: June 03, 2009 10:45 pm      

SLC women’s golf tourney moved

Sam Houston to host spring event a year ahead of schedule

It’s a year early, but Sam Houston State is going to host the Southland Conference women’s golf championships next spring.

Nicholls State was originally supposed to host next season’s tournament and the Bearkats were going to get the event in 2011. But because the Colonels dropped their women’s golf program, SLC officials moved up the host sites one year.

“(SHSU women’s coach) Tommy Chain and I are really excited about hosting the Southland Conference tournament,” Bearkats head golf coach Ronnie Choate said Wednesday afternoon. “He has recruited some nice high school players and with Landa Stewart coming back, we have a chance to win it. We think that the high school players coming in are ready to play college golf now.

“We think they are really looking forward to hosting it and the girls have an advantage with it being here.”

Choate said the plan is to have the SLC tournament at Raven Nest Golf Club next April. There are concerns that the greens might not be ready, but officials are going to meet again in September to re-evaluate the situation.

“We are working toward hosting it at Raven Nest, which is certainly our number one pick,” Choate said. “We have talked with some of the folks out there and they said they are going to have the course ready. We are going to meet again in September and see where we are at.

“The greens out there are a concern, but we are going to make the decision in the fall. We want to make sure the course is in good shape.”

Even though Sam Houston State was expecting to host the SLC tournament in two years, Choate said there shouldn’t be any problems getting ready in a shorter time period.

“Running a tournament is a piece of cake,” the coach said. “I have hosted a lot of tournaments in my time. It’s like riding a bike. Once you have done it successfully, there is no reason to think you can’t do it again.”

The Bearkats are also going to host the Sam Houston State Fall Classic again this year at Elkins Lake. Choate started the tournament last year and the field is already full. The date is still to be announced, but nine college men’s and women’s teams will be in Huntsville for the event.

“We are hosting the Sam Houston Fall Classic at Elkins Lake again this fall, and we are excited about that as well,” Choate added. “The folks out here really wanted to host a tournament and I’m proud of that since I live out here. They know that it will help them out financially, and they are not charging us to host it. We had a bunch of volunteers last year, and they did a great job.

“It is a good opportunity for us to have the men and women playing 27 great holes at the same time. It’s great for everyone involved and it’s going to be a good event.”

The 2010 Southland Conference men’s golf tournament is still set to be hosted by Southeastern Louisiana next spring.