CHOUDRANT, LA: Grayson Glorioso, Teaching Professional at Bayou Oaks City Park, along with his Amateur partner Andrew Barreca, claim the crown at the 2025 GSPGA PING / Sterling Cut Glass Pro-Scratch at Squire Creek Country Club.
Conditions were tough at the vaunted Squire Creek CC, with our first real taste of winter weather in the Louisiana and Mississippi area. The already challenging green complexes were amplified with cold, windy conditions. This put an extreme emphasis on ball striking and course strategy. Hitting your spots was crucial as missing your target by mere yards could be the difference between a good shot and a bad.
Twenty-mile-per-hour winds were constant during the Sunday practice rounds. GSPGA President Jake Narro, PGA, who played a practice round with Glorioso, claimed he felt like he was “playing at Augusta National” due to the complex green undulations, along with the pace at which the greens rolled. The Sunday consensus was quite unanimous that Squire Creek would prove to be a true championship test, which has been echoed by many in the Gulf States Section over the years.
Monday’s 9 am shotgun start was delayed to 11 am to compensate for a frost delay, showing just how legit this winter spell had become by the time it made its way to north Louisiana. 96 players took the golf course for what turned out to be a chilly but beautiful day on a very beautiful golf course. Hot starts from Camilo Avila Salazar of Hattiesburg CC and his partner George Scanlon set the pace with a -5 under front nine, but as the afternoon progressed, colder temperatures started to creep back in, making par a very equitable score in the four-ball format. Team Glorioso, who started on Hole #3, followed their early -3 under pace to the back nine, where they added 3 more birdies to pull into the lead. Circling back to the front nine for the last two holes, Glorioso & Barreca put an exclamation point on their victory by birdying their last two holes to take a 3-shot lead and a total of -8 (64) to take the championship.
The Gulf States PGA was thrilled to have two of our event sponsors in person with us, supporting the event. PING Representative Grant Landry, PGA, was there playing while also supporting the event with an amazing prize of two golden PING putters for the winners. Bob Hall from Adidas came all the way from Edmond, OK, to interact with members and provide an awesome hoodie piece to all the players. We also want to thank Sterling Cut Glass for sponsoring the event and providing their always beautiful glass trophies to the winning team!
We look forward to seeing everyone at our next tournament, the annual E-Z-GO Oliver Counce Six Pro & Membership Meeting/Awards Ceremony and Dinner taking place at Reunion G & CC in Madison, MS on December 7th-8th!
